


Until You

by coley_merrin



Category: Super Junior-M
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Brief Violence, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-12
Updated: 2011-02-21
Packaged: 2020-02-09 09:21:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 81,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18635299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coley_merrin/pseuds/coley_merrin
Summary: Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up.  And with Zhou Mi, they work together to undo the blood bond that forced them together.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older work being imported to ao3. If it seems like a familiar premise, that's because it is the predecessor to the story [**Overtones**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8647825), a BTS fic.

***

At first it seemed like a dream, being roused and moved. Like he was a child again, his mother shoving him to get him out of a stupor after a late night and deep sleep. But the voice in his ear was definitely not his mother’s, ordering him to wake up, to walk. He was already on his feet by the time his senses came back to him, and he looked around the dark room lit only with a single bulb. Concrete. Dirty. Not his home. Not his apartment.

He remembered the street.

The man excusing himself.

A hand clamping over his nose and mouth.

Shouting.

Nothing.

Where was he?

“Let me go,” he ground out, though he had no idea if he’d be able to stand if the two men hauling his stumbling form with them did. And proved that, as he nearly fell to his knees, his shoulders protesting as they kept moving. Who kidnapped men off the street? He was a useless, low-paying office worker, not a government official or anything.

Kyuhyun dug the toes of his shoes, his heels, into the floor, trying to slow how quickly he was being dragged. The skid of rubber over loose dirt and rock on concrete. It just made them pull harder, nearly knocking the wind from him as they swung him through the door and into a large room. He never would’ve considered himself light, but nothing he did stopped them.

For a moment, he had a flash of hope, letting himself go limp while hoping to distract them.

It was then that he saw the man on the chair ahead of him. Bound, it seemed. Curiosity and hope mingled. If there were two of them, if they could work together, then maybe they could get away. He didn’t have any money, nothing anyone would rob him for. No connections to exploit. If they could just see _reason_.

What reason was there in kidnapping?

When Kyuhyun would not stand, they shoved him to his knees instead, holding him there facing the man on the chair, and the man who stood beside him.

“Meet your end, filth. You’re no vampire,” the man who was standing said. He was dressed in severe white, so bright it nearly hurt Kyuhyun’s eyes, distracting him as the words filtered into his head. Vampire? He was definitely not a vampire.

But his eyes darted to the bound man. There was no way. Vampires were so rare anyway, keeping to themselves because of governmental regulations. He’d heard that no vampires even lived in the city. But it didn’t make any sense. If there was a vampire, then why was Kyuhyun there? And to what end? Whose end? Vampires didn’t eat _people_ so he was trying to rationalize his own safety, but the man? The vampire, he corrected himself. It sent shivers up his spine. Stories children told on playgrounds. But the man on the chair with the defiant eyes looked nothing like any image of a vampire he’d conjured. Sure, he’d heard they looked like normal people, but he didn’t actually believe it.

“You can’t do this,” the vampire said, shoulders work against what bound him. “My end will be—“

“Swift enough. Cut him.”

Distracted by their words, one of the men holding him muscled up Kyuhyun’s arm. Nearly twisting it out of its socket before Kyuhyun yelped and straightened.

And then there was the knife at his wrist. And the blood. The pain.

“Oh shit, no,” were the first words out of his mouth, the cut too quick for him to avoid. First the trickle, and then steady flow. Were they going to let him bleed out and blame the vampire for his death? Was that it?

“No, please,” the vampire said, echoing Kyuhyun as Kyuhyun was pulled onto his feet. Bleeding across the floor, the steps it took to get to the chair, Kyuhyun struggling every inch of the way. The man not holding his bleeding arm got him in some kind of headlock, immobilizing him against the vampire’s legs and the chair’s edge. The vampire’s head strained away, until the man in white grabbed his hair, forcing his head forward. He wasn’t sure what made him more ill, the sight of his bleeding arm, or the fact that the vampire’s face was being rubbed against it.

“Taste that? Smell that? It’s all you’ll ever have. Now feed.”

The vampire shook his head, not opening his mouth at all. And Kyuhyun stared in horror as the vampire’s jaws were pried open, sounds that were too near sobs from the vampire’s throat as his blood dripped into the vampire’s mouth.

“ _Feed,_ ” the man in white commanded again.

And as though he were compelled to it, Kyuhyun watched as the vampire opened his mouth and set teeth against the wound in Kyuhyun’s skin. He felt only the barest, tiniest prick amidst the pain, and felt his whole body shudder. His vision graying, and skin rolling with a chill. The vampire’s eyes were closed, but that face was what could only be revulsion. His eyes grew heavy, the vampire’s tongue against his wrist almost a throb.

Vampires didn’t… They didn’t feed on people. He didn’t understand, as he struggled to right his vision.

“Enough,” the man in white said. “Free him.”

The vampire’s eyes opened first, and then his mouth. Letting Kyuhyun’s wrist go so delicately, like a dog with a particularly special toy. He wasn’t paying attention to the man’s face, but to his still-bleeding wrist, and the fact that the men were letting him go.

And the vampire’s mouth and face, smeared red with his blood. Tongue darting out to clean his lips.

And Kyuhyun could fight the darkness no more.

***

Fucking crazy dream, was his first thought. Aching head. Hangover. And the sound.

What sound.

His eyes flew open, and he was dizzy for a long moment, eyes darting to a face both at once familiar and unfamiliar.

The vampire. Not a dream.

"The men--"

"Are gone.  You’re safe. Don’t worry.  How are you feeling?” the vampire asked him.

Kind of wretched, if the truth was known. But he wan’t exactly up for giving out many secrets.

“Oh, my wrist,” he said, trying to struggle to see.

“It’s okay,” the vampire said, lifting his arm for him. “There are— I have some clotting properties, so the bleeding has stopped now. I wrapped it. My handkerchief, it was clean. It was all I had.”

Kyuhyun swallowed, his throat dry. “Thanks. I should… I should go?”

Get away from this hellhole, and this vampire, and back to his normal life. What was normal? And where was he anyway?

The vampire left him for a moment, and he struggled upright, sitting on the edge of the bed he’d been laying on. Clearly not where he’d passed out at. Some kind of bedroom.

“This is my home,” the vampire said. And carefully cupped Kyuhyun’s hands around a glass of what appeared to be water. “Here, you must be thirsty.”

The vampire sat in the chair beside the bed. Close enough that Kyuhyun assumed he’d been sitting there while Kyuhyun had been passed out. Kind of creepy, and yet the vampire had bandaged his arm for him. So maybe not so much.

“Thanks,” he said again. And wondered if his legs would support him. The vampire’s fingers were knotting together awkwardly, and Kyuhyun wondered what there was to be awkward about. Kyuhyun was the intruder with the bloody arm and confusion. And holy crap he’d been kidnapped, and what the hell had they done to him?

And why?

“My name is Zhou Mi,” the vampire said. “What’s yours?”

“Kyuhyun,” he said, assuming there was no harm in saying so. Even if this Zhou Mi was somehow a crook, he could’ve gotten all of Kyuhyun’s information while he’d been unconscious anyway. He hissed inside. He’d have to get all of his records changed, if those idiots had stolen any of his identification.

“Kyuhyun. Do you remember what happened today?” Zhou Mi asked.

“Yeah. Some guys grabbed me off the street? And I woke up, and they cut me. And you bit me? And I woke up here. But vampires don’t eat—”

“Humans,” Zhou Mi finished for him. “No. We don’t.”

“Then what was the talk about _ends_ and— I thought they were going to kill one of us.”

“They did,” Zhou Mi said, smiling such a tiny smile. “But no one knows when.”

“I don’t understand.” And his stomach rolled. “Ugh. I feel sick.”

“That’s normal, I think,” Zhou Mi said, grabbing close a pan. “You lost blood, and I bit you, which means— Do you even know?”

He shook his head, which turned out to be his undoing. He retched, grabbing for the pan and emptying himself. There was a hand stroking the back of his neck as he panted, and helping him to lay back. He was supposed to have gone, he thought. There was a vampire, and nothing made sense, and he hurt and felt like crap. His mouth was rinsed in tepid tea, and a cool cloth on his forehead. And he slept again, dreamless, and deep.

***

To say the last thing that Zhou Mi had expected that day was to find himself bound to a human was an understatement. That it was a man made little difference to him. Everything he had learned about his kind had taught him that vampires were not concerned about gender. Those that fell for humans, fell for men or women. Literature, of course, encouraged a mating between vampire male and human woman. It was the only way to ensure the continuance of their species. Once, there had been more of them, enough where it didn’t matter. But that choice was beyond him. No matter what he had thought or planned, his path was set.

Kyuhyun.

He’d heard of it, gangs of men that hunted un-bound vampires, kidnapping human men from the streets and and forcing the blood bond. There was no other way to kill a vampire, not so easily. And to sacrifice one human to their cause? A small price to pay to ensure that the vampire’s days were both numbered, and that they would never be able to reproduce. But it was one thing to hear of it, and another to find himself tied up, with a human’s blood being thrust at him.

The fear, pain, revulsion on Kyuhyun’s face. The prejudices almost all humans grew with. Though at least Kyuhyun had known that vampires did not feed on humans. Taught only that, and not about why a vampire would loose its teeth, and imbibe something so powerful that it wrote itself throughout their bodies. Zhou Mi could never feed on anything, anyone else. It was why vampires, when they made that choice, were so very certain that the human they tasted was their true other, their soul’s mate. Or else be damned to a lifetime of regret.

And this man, Kyuhyun. He knew all but nothing of him. Only what he saw on Kyuhyun’s identification. Cho Kyuhyun, unmarried. Young, so young. Good for Zhou Mi, a long life. Dark hair, dark eyes. A will to fight, if the way Kyuhyun had struggled before was any indication. He hoped that would be an asset, and not a detriment. If Kyuhyun woke, denied what had happened, refused to accept it? It would only make it harder on them both. It was easier for Zhou Mi, in a way. Because he could smell the life in Kyuhyun’s veins. Everything he had never had in his life. They would learn to know each other, and he would protect Kyuhyun, care for him. He closed his eyes as a vision of Kyuhyun in his bed, as lovers, tasting him fully, swept through him. It was what they could have. Some day.

The police had been little help. Little more than a ride home in the back of a police car. What did it matter, what happened to a vampire? They’d been more concerned for Kyuhyun, who had been a little bloody but apparently sleeping.

When Kyuhyun stirred, he heard it, turning from the corner he had been organizing restlessly to see the man waking up. Lifting his hand and splaying long fingers. Examining his wound, Zhou Mi imagined. It was little more a red line along his arm by then, still livid, but healing after Kyuhyun had been sick.

“How long have I been asleep?” Kyuhyun asked, his voice low and husky.

“Several hours,” Zhou Mi told him. Enough that night had fallen. Kyuhyun seemed steadier, sitting and pushing back his hair, breathing into his hands as though he were cold. Orienting himself. Zhou Mi knew it well. He handed Kyuhyun warm tea, and watched him drink. Felt his own tongue restless in his mouth, and quieted himself. It was far, far too soon to even imagine feeding. If he tried, Kyuhyun might not ever accept him.

“Do you feel better?”

He knew Kyuhyun did, from the steady thumping of his heart. At the very least Kyuhyun was not frightened of him. After all, what else was there that could be done?

While Kyuhyun sat, Zhou Mi gathered things he had borrowed from one of the only neighbors who would speak to him. A small bottle of juice, several slices of bread. An apple. And he set them on the low bed stand, retaking his place on the chair. Hunger was a normal part of feeding. The body attempting to replenish its blood. And Kyuhyun seemed to swallow the food whole, desperate about it. That was Zhou Mi’s fault as well. Kyuhyun would learn to control it, that feeling. Much as Zhou Mi would around the scent of Kyuhyun’s blood.

But he needed to find out, if Kyuhyun knew.

“Do you know why they forced me to feed from you today?” he asked, knowing of no more delicate way of phrasing it.

Kyuhyun shook his head, washing down his meal of bread and fruit with the dark juice. “No. I’ve never heard of a vampire eating from humans. Did they want you to get addicted or something?”

“Or something,” Zhou Mi said. “Did they teach you how a vampire bonds. Takes a mate?”

The word made Kyuhyun pause, as he expected it would. “Mate? No.”

“The first drink of blood. One’s true mate. That blood is the only source of sustenance from that day forward. To take a mate is to give up immortality. A blood bond, that ends only at death.”

“So they wanted you to only be able to feed on my blood?”

“Yes. And they succeeded. When you die, I will lay my head down with you.”

The thought of it was too much, Zhou Mi saw that right away. Kyuhyun’s eyes wide, wary. And he stood, taking several fumbling steps. “You’re out of your mind. Totally out of your mind. You need help. There’s no way—“

“Do you think I would joke about this?” Zhou Mi demanded, following him out of the bedroom, and into the brightly lit front room. “They violated you, but they robbed me of _everything_.”

“Violated me? To tie me to a monster?”

It seemed Zhou Mi’s whole body froze. “I am no more a monster than you are. And it is my life that had been stolen.”

“I don’t believe you,” Kyuhyun said, backing towards the door. “You’re lying. Biting me did nothing.”

“It infused your blood with my own antibodies,” Zhou Mi told him. “And fused your blood to me. It is not what I _wanted_ but we are bound, either way.”

“Then forget it happened,” Kyuhyun muttered, fumbling into his shoes.

“I would last one year, at the most. Taking my metabolism to nothing. If I do not feed from you. You’ll feel it. Full. Waiting to give. Cold in the night. It won’t only be me who needs.”

“Stay away from me,” Kyuhyun warned, fumbling with the lock. “Just stay away. You’re crazy.”

Zhou Mi could do nothing but stand there, useless. “You are free to go at any time. You are not my prisoner. The sun won’t burn you, but you have to be careful not be exposed too long. The antibodies will start to show a kind of allergic response as they multiply.”

“This is all insane.”

“Then go. Research if you have to. Ask people. But I’m telling you the truth. I am sorry, Kyuhyun, I am.”

“What if I’d been married, what if—“

The thought of his bonded mate belonging to another set Zhou Mi’s teeth on edge.

“They did not care, as long as it saw the end of me. Remember where I am, Kyuhyun. Do as you must. I can’t force you.”

Hungry, sick, he turned, nearly stumbling over a footstool on his way into his room. He had not even fully fed. A year was at best a hope. A few months at most. But he knew where Kyuhyun lived. He could give him a week, if he had to. If the urges in Kyuhyun’s body did not take over before then. They were not sexual, not at all. But an aching blood fullness waiting for the pleasure of release. Perhaps there was enjoyment, excitement. But the feed was not the bond. If a lover drew heat from it, it was good. So good.

He lay on his bed, where Kyuhyun had been, and breathed deeply as though the scent of him would linger. Only a soiled cloth to sate his hunger, and faded warmth. How quickly the bond etched into him. That first, copper tang. Kyuhyun’s mouth parted in pain. No, he didn’t want the pain. He wanted the joy and the pleasure, to know that face, each expression.

And he knew he was naive to expect any of it. How could he? Kyuhyun had let him know how he saw Zhou Mi already.

As a monster.

***

Kyuhyun stood in front of the door and panted like a dog on a hot day. There was no way what he was hearing was true, that he was somehow blood bound to a vampire, destined to be like some kind of deli snack for the rest of his life. How was it that he’d gone from walking to the grocery store, to interacting with something he thought was almost a myth. But that hadn’t been any myth smeared with his blood. Or carrying him to his home, or whatever else he’d done. But as unlikely as it was, there was a modicum of truth to it that he couldn’t deny. Things he’d read so many years ago as a child fascinated by what was weird and odd. And it had not been a monster who had sent him away, so polite and yet scathing as the same time. It was that tone of hurt that sort of wormed under Kyuhyun’s skin even as his body seemed to crawl with sensations. Zhou Mi had said he would feel the need to let Zhou Mi feed. He wondered if the singing sensation in his veins was that, or some aftereffect from however he’d been knocked out. He stared down at his feet. His shoes, that had been taken off and carefully placed at the door after Zhou Mi had brought him. Looked after him in his own home. A total stranger. Why?

But there was something else he wanted to know. He turned around, marching back into the bedroom. Zhou Mi, who had been laying down, pushed himself upright. Quick and surprised. Kyuhyun shoved out his arm, where the wound still showed.

“How did this heal so fast? There’s no way it could have scabbed over that quickly, much less healed to this point.”

Zhou Mi considered him. “It’s because I bit you. There are healing properties in my saliva. But I didn’t make that wound, so whatever affect I have on you is dampened. You may always carry a scar from that cut. But it will be faint.”

Of course. A vampire licked him, and he was suddenly all better.

“Healing properties? Like some kind of dog?” he asked, not even trying to be rude.

“Like someone who doesn’t want to cause injuries,” Zhou Mi answered, his voice so prim that it almost made Kyuhyun smile.

“Let’s assume that all of this is true. What does that mean?”

“It means we’re bound. That we need to find a way to know each other. Like each other. It means what any sort of marriage means. Or maybe just what we want it to.”

Kyuhyun grunted. That didn’t mean that there wasn’t a way out of it. He stepped closer.

“Can I see your… Er. Teeth? Fangs?”

“Teeth,” Zhou Mi said. “Why?”

“Because I’ve never met a vampire, and it’s kind of interesting.”

Zhou Mi thought a moment. “If I show you my teeth, will you stay until morning?”

A bargain. He liked that. He liked the calculation behind it, and also the fact that he might get to learn more. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but he’d already been bitten once. He didn’t assume there was anything else behind door number two.

“Yeah, I’ll stay.”

“Come closer, then. And sit.”

Close enough to see Zhou Mi’s eyelashes in the lamp’s light, Zhou Mi’s head tipping back. Behind his canines, almost to his incisors. Not needle sharp, nor some kind of wacky sabertooth thing, either. Something he might miss if Zhou Mi were smiling with teeth closed, but obvious as the extra teeth descended.

“Is that as far as they’’ll go?” he asked. Almost half an inch below the edge of Zhou Mi’s teeth. It was kind of cool that they retracted. But he thought Zhou Mi would be biting himself bloody otherwise.

“They’ll go a little further. But they’re not meant to be displayed.”

Just to get blood.

“Can I feel?” he asked.

“Be careful,” Zhou Mi cautioned, even if it seemed like he wanted to refuse. “They’re sharp.”

And Zhou Mi wasn’t kidding. It felt like the barest prick against his skin, but he saw the wide welt his soft press had made and the blood welling in it. Amazed, skin tingling, staring between his finger and Zhou Mi’s mouth. His instinct was to take it to his own mouth, sooth the hurt there. But Zhou Mi made a sound of distress, catching Kyuhyun’s hand.

“Let me. I can heal it.”

And taste Kyuhyun’s blood again while he was at it. But Zhou Mi’s lips closed soft around his fingertip, warmth and wet flooding over it. He nearly wanted to shudder, but there was no pain or more than a passing thought that he should be feeling revulsion.

“Your teeth have something on them that keeps me bleeding, then?”

“Yes. It keeps the blood flowing,” Zhou Mi said, after he let go of Kyuhyun’s hand. “And in our saliva, a clotting agent. Very difficult to keep a bondmate alive if they bleed out with every bite.”

He smiled, appreciating the humor. His finger wasn’t totally whole, but the wound was pink and healing.

“It heals quickly.”

“Part of what passes from me to you,” Zhou Mi said softly. “Every bite I pass some of my healing to you. It makes little wounds like these heal fast. You won’t know it was there by morning.”

“So your bite does interesting things,” Kyuhyun mused. “Did you feed enough earlier?”

“No. I’m hungry. But I won’t ask it of you so soon.”

Two choices then. Ignore that Zhou Mi was hungry with no other possible means of filing himself. Ignore until morning, when maybe he had his head back together, and they could figure out if there was something else they could do— something not pretending that they were stuck together for all eternity. Or Kyuhyun’s lifetime, or whatever. It still didn’t make Zhou Mi less hungry in the meantime. And he both could and could not understand the words that left his mouth.

“Then will taking just a little help?”

“Yes. But why would you be willing?” Zhou Mi asked, considering Kyuhyun with such wariness. “Earlier, you told me I lied?”

“What do you expect me to think? If you’re telling the truth, and you need to _feed_ then do it. You fed me.”

“Then a very little I’ll take,” Zhou Mi said softly, taking his offer at its face value. “It will do no harm to you, I promise. You will just feel…pleasant. It’s nothing to fear.”

And when he watched as Zhou Mi took his arm, Zhou Mi glanced up at him.

“Perhaps it’s easier if you don’t see?”

Maybe. Maybe it would’ve been. But it didn’t stop his curiosity. Whether by accident or design, Zhou Mi’s lip hid when his teeth actually sank through Kyuhyun’s skin. But he knew anyway. That pervasive tingling that swept him, like the whole of his skin was swept with warmth just dancing there. He both felt and heard the gasp, the movement too fast for him to dodge as Zhou Mi both released and reached for him. Gone was the look of enjoyment, replaced by something that had him jerking as Zhou Mi grasped his head. Heading for a place he wasn’t prepared to consider.

His neck.

Visions of his throat being ripped into flooded through him, and he pushed out blindly.

“Whoa. _Stop!_ ”

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Zhou Mi murmured, his nose notching into Kyuhyun’s neck. “I’m not going to bite you. I can smell it, your blood. It beats for me.”

“For me first,” Kyuhyun said, trying to for wry and it just ending up awkward, since he had a man in his lap almost. And a man breathing hard against his skin in a way that was kind of reminiscently sexual and _hungry_ even to him.

Zhou Mi pushed himself back, lifting Kyuhyun’s arm again. Tracing his tongue against the tendons, the veins, to where he had bitten, and biting again. The sound of relief and pleasure were even more audible, Zhou Mi unable to hold himself back.

He could just see the edge of Zhou Mi’s lip where it pressed to his skin, and exhaled slowly. Staring at the ceiling as the feeding continued. The interested little twitch in his pants was due to circumstance, and the feelings the feeding made in him. Zhou Mi had all but said he should expect it. And maybe he’d have taken it a little more philosophically if he didn’t still have the ghosting sensations of Zhou Mi breathing against his neck. Maybe it was a clever way to get Kyuhyun to want it. Oh please, Zhou Mi. Bite into a place you could easily kill me.

He knew when Zhou Mi had taken back his fangs, because the tingling began to fade. Just a heat where Zhou Mi’s tongue had cleaned his skin, perhaps helping the clotting along.

“Had your fill?” he asked, and was pleased to find he was neither overtly aroused, nor woozy.

“Yes. I had plenty. Thank you.”

“Tastes like the finest wine, I bet,” Kyuhyun joked.

Zhou Mi laughed, smiling. “It tastes like your blood. No wine could compare.”

There was an uneasy silence after that. Kyuhyun, unsure of how to reply, and Zhou Mi looking uncomfortable for maybe how revealing it had sounded. Though, Zhou Mi had to be somewhat happy. He couldn’t imagine living life with the only source of sustenance available being disgusting. Zhou Mi stood, almost seeming displeased.

“It’s late, and it’s been… Quite a day. I’ll sleep out on the couch. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“I thought you said I’d get cold sleeping alone,” Kyuhyun accused him.

“It’s something I’d heard,” Zhou Mi said carefully. “I guess we can find out.”

He reluctantly accepted that hypothesis, and made himself comfortable in Zhou Mi’s bed. The room was dark, just two faint glowing spots from where Zhou Mi’s clock sat. He was sleeping in a vampire’s house, had been fed on by him. He ran his fingers up the still-healing line on his arm. Just another day. Maybe.

***

He woke once in the middle of the night, shivering. Though the blanket was warm, and the air. He curled in on himself, wondering how the hell he was supposed to get up and ask Zhou Mi to come cuddle because he was a Kyuhyun-icicle sleeping alone. Of all the things to be true. A creak in a the floorboard had him turning.

“Zhou Mi?”

“Are you..?”

“Freezing,” Kyuhyun said, trying to keep his teeth from clacking together. “Get your ass over here so we can see if it’ll help.”

When he sat on the bed, Zhou Mi wasn’t even touching him, and it felt like his skin flushed warm. Not in a way that had him wanting to kick away the covers, just a pleasant, glowing warmth. Or maybe it was just feeling normal. Or maybe he was just as out of it as Zhou Mi.

“Fuck,” he whispered, and didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud until Zhou Mi sighed.

“I’m sorry. I guess it was true.”

He felt Zhou Mi get settled under the covers, and pressed his face into the pillow. If that was true, then what else? What else. How did he tell his work, his friends? His family? But the warmth calmed him, and he relaxed, falling into an easy sleep.

***


	2. Chapter Two and Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

Over the years of Zhou Mi’s life, it was strange to think that he had met only one other vampire besides himself. He had been allowed one year of public schooling, and that had been the first time he had turned to see someone dressed exactly as he was. Protective cloth covering their sun-sensitive skin. Standing amidst crowds of perfectly normal teenagers. Just not normal themselves. They had forged a friendship that day that had lasted through all the years that followed. Two people who were different. Eunhyuk. The same, even if their home lives were different. Eunhyuk had his birth parents, and Zhou Mi had not. But Eunhyuk had moved in the middle of that year, leaving Zhou Mi alone. When he felt totally alone, he knew that there was someone out there who knew exactly what he was going through.

Before he had slept, he had locked himself in his spare room. Looking in on the sleeping Kyuhyun and dialing with trembling fingers.

The voice on the other end of the line was a comfort, and he was glad he was sitting for it.

“Zhou Mi? It’s late.”

“You’ve heard of vampires being kidnapped, forced into a bond?”

Eunhyuk exhaled, audible even through the phone. “Yes, of course. It’s been happening a long time, even if the press doesn’t care. Why?”

He made a sound, unable even to say it out loud.

“No,” Eunhyuk said. “Don’t tell me— Zhou Mi!”

“Yes. Today. He’s sleeping in my bed right now.” A man he had no idea what to do with.

“He’s okay? How’s he taking it?”

“How would any man take the fact that they get to be bitten the rest of their lives? Badly. But he’s agreed to stay, for now. Is there no way— The bond is forever, isn’t it?”

“If my parents were still alive, I’d ask them,” Eunhyuk said softly. “But that’s what they told me. That I had to be careful, and make a wise choice, because I couldn’t change my mind.”

Zhou Mi closed his eyes, his whole body sagging under the confirmation of what he’d known already. But it was different from the soft and apologetic voice of his friend. His own parents had lived to a good age, as humans. Eunhyuk’s own parents’ lives had been cut sadly short. There were no guarantees in life. He wanted to scream loudly, but had no way to do so. He had no idea what he had to do, but he couldn’t exactly do nothing.

“I wish I knew what to do for him.”

Eunhyuk chuckled. “If he’s like any other human I know, he probably knows nothing about what vampires are really like. You probably have more books on it than I do. Maybe he can learn?”

“Maybe. I have to try.”

“It’s disgusting, what they do. I’m so sorry. Do you need me to come into the city?”

“No. No, I’ll figure this out. He need to get used to me first, before we toss another vampire at him. Thank you though. I’ll call again,” Zhou Mi told him. “Don’t worry. I’ll do what I have to.”

Though he knew Eunhyuk would worry. And he worried himself, even after he’d climbed into bed with Kyuhyun. He slept little, but deep. Nightmares waking both of them at various times of night. Just breathing and trying not to disturb each other as they dealt with their own demons. But at least Zhou Mi had a plan.

Zhou Mi had torn apart his library by the time Kyuhyun had woken, wandering into the room every so often to make sure Kyuhyun wasn’t getting cold. Great stacks of books that he sifted through and discarded. He caught himself on a sneeze a couple of times, realizing he needed to be a little more vigilant on the dusting, and perhaps the book sorting in general. Because of what he was, he couldn’t work, so he ended up with a lot of time. Books were one way he filled it. But he created a small stack of the books he found. Vampire lore, vampire facts. Bookmarking pages, sections. Things he could give Kyuhyun to read, to show him. Things that might help him to understand what it was that they were going through. And for not the first time, Zhou Mi wished he had a mentor, an older vampire who could tell Kyuhyun that it all was true. That it wasn’t some figment of Zhou Mi’s imagination, and he wasn’t trying to screw around with Kyuhyun. He wished it were all a joke. It just was far from one.

Movement had him looking up, startled. Movement in his apartment was so unfamiliar to him, even when he was expecting it. It was Kyuhyun, rumpled in his clothes and patting down his hair. Staring at Zhou Mi with his little corral of books, sitting in a shaft of sunlight.

“Isn’t sunlight supposed to hurt you?” Kyuhyun said, squinting his eyes closed and open again and blinking rapidly.

“Sunlight, from outside, will hurt me. Burn me. It won’t kill me, but it does hurt. These windows are special, though. They’ve been coated, and tinted, to let in light without harming me.”

“Oh. That makes sense. What library blew up in here?”

Zhou Mi laughed, standing. “Mine did. I’ve been looking up information for you. Please, sit.”

He got the only bit of food he had in his apartment, a single apple from his borrowing food the day before, and poured Kyuhyun a cup of tea. Kyuhyun accepted both, and Zhou Mi felt pleased. At least Kyuhyun didn’t think he was going to poison him.

“These books,” Zhou Mi said, laying his hand on a stack of four, “speak of the blood bond, the mating. The aftereffects, and how it changes with time. And these others deal with vampires in general. Physiologically, I am little different than you. I am sensitive to the sun, and I can smell your blood. But I am no stronger, no better visually.”

“Little different. And the blood drinking thing. The blood bond, huh?”

If Kyuhyun believed him… He handed Kyuhyun the book, indicating the bookmark to the section on the blood bond.

“Says that whole freezing-in-the-middle-of-the-night thing fades in intensity after a while,” Kyuhyun mused. “That’s handy. Though it says it’s there to “encourage a deeper bond that will last into eternity.””

“Probably more that your body gets used to the changes being made,” Zhou Mi said, trying for logic.

“Sure, okay. But you didn’t even have to touch me for me to warm back up. Are we like magnets now? Pheromones, what?”

“I’m not sure,” Zhou Mi admitted. “Perhaps it’s evolutionary? A newly bonded pair, the human needing to be close for…protection? Or also for feeding.”

Kyuhyun hummed, and kept on reading, the half-eaten apple clutched in one hand.

“Here’s something interesting. ‘A newly bonded pair is demonstrated in the human’s ability to mark the vampire’s skin.’ What’s that mean?”

“I can’t be injured in a traditional sense. That’s another way we differ, I guess. Those men couldn’t have stabbed and killed me.”

“The immortal thing, I got that.”

But he pondered it, and wondered. He looked up at Kyuhyun.

“Look, I can’t even hurt myself,” he said, and raised his arm. He made very sure his teeth were visible when he bit down on his own arm, feeling the flesh give slightly the harder he bit. But when he let go, there was nothing. Only a sheen where his mouth had been. No wound, not even a dent. Just pristine skin.

“Whoa,” Kyuhyun said, leaning closer. “So if even you can’t make a mark, is the book saying I can mark you?”

“Try scratching my skin,” Zhou Mi suggested. Along the inside of his arm, where the skin was tender and would show more easily. If it worked.

Kyuhyun’s nails weren’t sharp, and the pressure exerted wasn’t painful. But they both stared as moments later faint pink lines appeared in the wake of Kyuhyun’s fingers. They tried it with Zhou Mi’s other arm, that time Zhou Mi trying to scratch himself. And coming up with nothing. Until Zhou Mi had several crisscrossing pink marks on his arms from Kyuhyun’s efforts, and a confused Kyuhyun in front of him.

“Maybe the reason you can mark me is because it’s your blood,” Zhou Mi said.

“That’s kind of cool. Weird, but cool. You can bite me, and I can give you hickeys. I don’t know if that’s equal or not, but—”

Zhou Mi didn’t need a cold wind to make him shiver at the image of Kyuhyun sucking a mark into his skin.

“So you can’t die, but you can tie yourself to a human. Why would someone do that? Compromise themselves?”

“It says in one of the books. Love. The pain of the thought of living one moment in this world without the other of your soul too great to bear.”

“Why not just turn the human?”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “We are born, not made. I had no more choice in my conception than you did in yours. If we fall for a human, then it is our choice to tie our lives to theirs.”

He could see Kyuhyun’s confusion in that.

“Okay. But if it’s their goal to wipe out your kind, why not just kill me?”

“You’re a man. We can’t procreate together. And now that we’re bound, I can’t with anyone else. I can’t feed from any other. They’ve accomplished their goals and set my end. And you are an innocent victim.”

“What if I don’t let you…feed? What if— Has anyone ever tried to break a blood bond? Like say, oops I cut myself and you tasted it, but…? There’s no way of backing out?“

Zhou Mi smiled, and the feeling of it was simultaneously sad and amused. It was normal for Kyuhyun to wonder, even if he could do nothing to stop it.

“If you locked me in a room alone long enough, I would die, and the bond would break,” Zhou Mi admitted. “But I don’t know of any other ways. Perhaps in these books it mentions something. It isn’t something I’ve ever researched. But your body will start to crave it. And feeding will continue to be pleasurable to you.”

“More endorphins than chocolate. Okay.” Kyuhyun stared down at the book, a frown bowing his mouth. “If you can smell blood, how did you go this long without biting someone? Wouldn’t smelling it make you hungry?”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “Until I bit you, I couldn’t smell blood at all. It wasn’t something I needed. Until you.”

***

Zhou Mi’s apartment was nice enough, aside from the avalanche of books Kyuhyun had walked out to. Things he hadn’t really noticed the day before given everything that had happened. Definitely bigger than his own, with a few big and brightly colored posters on the wall. Pretty knickknacks. Not exactly a girl’s home, but it was obvious that Zhou Mi liked cute things. Considering he was sipping water from a cup with a game character on its side. He wrinkled his nose at the mustache, and tried not to actually smile. He was waiting for Zhou Mi to shower, and wandering. There wasn’t anything that screamed vampire! about it. It was just an apartment. No weird symbols or coffins or whatever else he’d seen in random pop culture references. Though, Zhou Mi did have a lot of books about vampires. That made sense.

No pictures, though. No family photos. Perhaps they were all hidden away. Little mementos tacked to a board. Train tickets, receipts. He didn’t linger there long, figuring Zhou Mi had some right to privacy. Though curiosity kept him moving. A spare room, mostly holding boxes. A small almost-closet that held a washer and dryer. The kitchen, which was fully outfitted even if Zhou Mi didn’t eat food. There was an electric water pot, dishes. Kind of eclectic mix of dishes which told him Zhou Mi probably picked those up for their looks as well. Trying to be normal, even if he wasn’t. Or trying to be human, maybe that was more correct. Because as Zhou Mi was, was normal for him. Just different than most of the people around him.

Zhou Mi emerged, fully dressed, though barefoot, and with a towel around his neck.

“Did you get to look around?” he asked, smiling as he filled a cup with hot water.

Okay, so Zhou Mi had more or less told him to check out the place, but it still was a little awkward poking his nose around.

“Yeah, it’s nice. You have a lot of stuff.”

“I try and keep myself occupied,” Zhou Mi told him, brewing his tea.

“So you don’t eat, but you drink tea?”

Zhou Mi nodded. “It’s a pleasure. After I got my teeth, food has done nothing but give me indigestion, but tea is soothing.”

Perhaps Zhou Mi had tried eating. Again, the humanity thing. But Zhou Mi sat at the kitchen table and looked up at Kyuhyun.

“When you’re ready, we should go to register you as my— As my— Any vampire who forms a blood bond has to report it, like any marriage. Vampires can’t be employed around humans, so the government pays us a stipend to live on. This housing is furnished also. If it’s acceptable, you can move your things here. There is plenty of space.”

It was one thing to find the whole vampires-are-real kind of cool, and he did, there wasn’t any getting around that. But it was completely another to have his real life thrown into the mix. Not that getting bled by some kind of weird creature didn’t count as real life, it just was private real life. Something he could deal with on his own, without the rest of the universe getting involved. But his brain balked.

“We— We can’t acknowledge this,” he protested. “If my work finds out? They’d fire me. My coworkers? Who would want to be around me?”

As he spoke Zhou Mi’s head began to shake side to side.

“They wouldn’t be legally able to fire you. You’d be under the protection of the laws of discrimination.” Zhou Mi paused, admitting, “But they could make you want to quit.”

“What would I do then?” Kyuhyun asked, dumbfounded. Get bitten, sure. Tell everyone? Lose his whole life? Zhou Mi’s thumb rimmed his cup, frowning.

“We, because we can’t work, tend to do other things. Music, or writing. Crafts. Things that can be sold to supplement the stipend. The government doesn’t care how much. If you can’t work, I can support you.”

Well, yippee, that was something he could write home to his parents about. Moved in with a vampire, currently getting bled, and he’s putting me up. Kept for the pleasure of his blood. Really, it didn’t get much better than that.

“What do you do, then?” he asked Zhou Mi.

“I sew clothes. I have been for a few years. We can do anything as long as it doesn’t include food making of any sort. In case we try and put something in the food, I guess.”

“I guess you can’t sneak a pair of teeth into a dress. What’s your brand called? Louis Bitten?”

Zhou Mi laughed so hard at his little fake-accented designer name that the table started shaking, Zhou Mi actually reaching out to grasp his hand in his mirth. LV he was not. He could help but chuckle at his lame joke, staring at that face. A face he could be staring at, like it or not, for the next sixty or so years of his life. When Zhou Mi sobered, Zhou Mi kept his hand, squeezing almost to the point of pain.

“I thought you’d accepted that it was true. There is… There is no real way of getting around reporting it. If we don’t, there could be trouble. It’s not like we wouldn’t have known.”

“It’s not like they’d know either,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

“Not exactly. From what I know, they can find the levels of antibodies in your blood. Maybe it wouldn’t tell them the day or hour, but we couldn’t fake it just happening.”

When he thought about it rationally, which was still hard to do with the seven thousand thoughts spinning in his head, he really wanted to get the hell out of there. Call Zhou Mi insane, and just split. But Zhou Mi hadn’t written those books that they’d looked at while waiting for Kyuhyun to wake up. And there was enough that he read in there that had some of his doubts turning into maybes. Maybe there was truth to it, and they weren’t crazy. Maybe the man holding his hand wasn’t some creepy thing, who just wanted a human to use. Kyuhyun had never considered himself to be stupid or particularly gullible. For all he knew, Zhou Mi had orchestrated everything - the kidnapping, the biting. And what was he supposed to do, ask for character references? And the guy talked about marching him down to some office, and registering him like some kind of pet dog.

“Look, registering our…bond, or whatever, that’s kind of official isn’t it? You can’t just go down and be like, oops, I made a mistake, I take it back.”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “Because there is no way to reverse a blood bond, there would be no need to reverse the registration.”

“But are you sure, a thousand percent, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that there is no way to reverse it?”

“Besides my death?” Zhou Mi said bluntly. “It would go against everything I knew, if there was. But is there that slightest chance? I don’t know.”

“I’m sure you’re a nice guy, and all,” or at least he was going with that supposition, “but this is a lot for me to just agree with. People don’t tie their lives together in a— a freaking day!”

“That’s why what was done to us was so reprehensible,” Zhou Mi said, standing and stepping close. “But there are repercussions if we don’t register. Fines, or the possibility that I could be cut off from my stipend. And because I can’t work, I might be homeless. If I knew—“

Zhou Mi’s words cut off in frustration, hand slashing through the air.

“If I knew anything that could get us out of this, and give you your life back. Give me my life back, I would be racing for it. I want this to be a choice. And I don’t have any good ones to give you. But I can promise you that I will help you look for any way that gets us out of this. And I know you have no reason to believe me, but I promise I will do everything I can for you.”

Who had the worst end of the deal? The vampire who died if Kyuhyun refused to feed him, who lost his home and living if he refused to register with him. Or Kyuhyun, who had to get bitten however many times, and was getting his life reordered, and a big, earnest-eyed vampire attached to him.

Unfortunately all the pros in going along with Zhou Mi’s plans seemed to land on Zhou Mi’s side of the benefit. But it sounded like Zhou Mi didn’t want to be tied to him, either. Of course, if it was true, and he thought about that quite hard, then if Zhou Mi lost his stipend? He would suddenly have a vampire living in his apartment. Which meant that it was in their best interest to do as they should, until such a time as -and he had to believe they could - they found a way to break the blood bond.

But he didn’t see any harm in making sure.

“If you swear you’ll help me look into the blood bond and how to break it,” Kyuhyun bargained.

“Pinky swear,” Zhou Mi said, and offered his hand.

He guessed that was good enough for him, though seriously, were they ten year-old girls? Their little fingers locked, and shook. And the deal was made.

***

Zhou Mi had to be careful, going outside. In his home, he was protected, but in direct sunlight, he wasn’t. He’d known enough burns to know how painful they were. Blisters on his skin, that didn’t heal nearly as quickly as he would like. It wouldn’t kill him, because the wounds only went skin deep. It probably wouldn’t even drive him insane if his whole body was exposed. But anyone who had a slight burn, a cut, knew the skin had too many nerve endings to want to play around with it. And it meant dressing in the only way he knew how. There had been cloth developed, that blocked out the parts of the suns rays that were especially harmful. It was thin, almost like nylon, so he could wear pieces of clothing made with it under his normal clothes. He’d lined thin gloves with it. And he wore hoodies, because having a hood on was less distracting than displaying that he wore a piece of cloth covering his entire head. He could see through it just fine, and it was flesh-colored so it didn’t look too creepy. But anyone looking at him - who knew - could instantly spot what it was. He explained it partially to Kyuhyun, wanting to get going before Kyuhyun changed his mind.

But as they started into the stairwell, he couldn’t help but point out the location and its significance.

“This is where they kidnapped me,” Zhou Mi said, pausing on the top step. “Someone said something to stop me, and the next thing I knew, I was being pushed down the stairs.”

Kyuhyun stared between him and the stairwell.

“Pushed down? What, there has to be twenty steps!”

“And my bones won’t break,” Zhou Mi said, leading Kyuhyun down those same stairs. “But I was dazed enough that they managed to tie me up.”

“And I thought having a thug grab me was bad. I mean, obviously I’d never been kidnapped before, but I thought it was some kind of mugging.”

“I knew it wasn’t.” And he wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, the anger that he felt that Kyuhyun had been scared, and hurt. He would have been angry for anyone, but Kyuhyun wasn’t just anyone to him anymore. And it wasn’t as though he could keep Kyuhyun safe from everything, because he couldn’t. But there were little things, like the fact that he ignored the faint unease that was hunger, because it was more want than need at that point.

As they walked, Kyuhyun began to recognize familiar landmarks. “I live maybe a ten or fifteen minute walk from here.”

His locale had probably factored in, there was no doubt in Zhou Mi’s mind about that. “The warehouse where they took us isn’t far from here. Five blocks or so. Luckily, the police gave us a ride back here.”

“I don’t remember anything.”

“No, you were out. They offered to take us to the hospital, but…” He hesitated. “I was pretty sure I knew why you were unconscious. It might not have been the wisest thing.”

“It worked out,” Kyuhyun said, shrugging. And for a moment Zhou Mi was happy, because it had been some time since he had had the freedom of walking, talking, beside someone. Even if where they were going was less than a wonderful location to him.

The Office of Vampire Affairs was a depressing place at the best of times, and on the weekend, a Sunday, even more so. Shuttled into a back corner closet of the government building, it was big enough for a desk, filing units and two people. It was one of the only offices open every day of the week, even if it was only for a few hours. He wished he knew how many vampires it served, but short of staking it out, he had no way of knowing. The next office was almost five hours away, which explained its peculiar hours. There was a woman who seemed bored with the whole deal since she was reading a novel at the desk, and some young lackey doing busywork behind her. She actually seemed a little surprised to see someone walk in, keeping ahold of her novel even when it was clear from his own outfit that Zhou Mi was a vampire and there for a reason.

“Yes?”

“We’re here to register a blood bond,” Zhou Mi said, his posture stiff.

“Was it recent? Every week can incur a charge of—“

“Yesterday,” Zhou Mi told her, and got no sort of surprise.

“Okay, then. We’ll need guarantee of a blood draw to confirm that. The registration fee is waived if you’re a registered vampire. I’ll need both your IDs.”

Kyuhyun slid his across as Zhou Mi did the same, and she scanned them into the system. She pushed a form at Kyuhyun, indicating he needed to fill out his current residence and place of work. Kyuhyun did so with a frown, and Zhou Mi watched him closely. Just because Kyuhyun was there, and doing this, didn’t mean that there was any guarantee that he accepted it still. Especially with the way Kyuhyun was peppering the woman with questions about taxes and regulations, and were there any drawbacks, or— Would it take a week, a month? If he hadn’t been worried by governmental backlash, he wouldn’t have pushed for it to happen so soon. But there was another reason. If Kyuhyun had papers in his hand telling them they were bound in the eyes of the government, then maybe it would help his mind along as well. Even if it wasn’t exactly the kind of “marriage papers” he’d have expected to be filling out in his lifetime.

She had some kind of device that pricked Kyuhyun’s finger for the test, assuring them they’d get an antibody result within a day or so. And that was it. No pomp, no circumstance. Just a sheaf of official paperwork, and their IDs handed back.

“Till death do you part,” she commented drolly, picking up her novel.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Kyuhyun demanded.

“It’s part of the marriage vows, honey,” she said, and went back to her book.

“But that didn’t sound like a joke, right?” he asked, following Zhou Mi back into the hall.

“You can’t be defensive about every little thing,” Zhou Mi told him, guiding him with a firm hand on his back. “Believe me. If you’re out with me, you’ll hear and see things. Some of it you have to let go. You’ll get some of it , too.”

He could see the rising protest on Kyuhyun’s face when Zhou Mi lifted his hand, taking a subtle lick of the finger that had been tested. It tasted of metal, and the faint hint of blood, but he could help it hurt less, heal faster.

“I forget you can do that,” Kyuhyun murmured.

He would get used to it. There weren’t many other options for it otherwise.

Their visit to the police was fruitless. No evidence at the scene, no leads to go on. Just unknown men, a double kidnapping, and a forced bond.

Also known as, they might as well get used to it because there weren’t enough resources to investigate vampire crimes. Kyuhyun was silent and stone faced through it, seeing what Zhou Mi had had to deal with in the warehouse, even. He worried for a moment that Kyuhyun would try and say something, as he had in the Vampire Affairs office. Saying anything wasn’t going to make it better, by far. The men were already unmotivated, and probably under the impression that what had been done was a good thing, even.

“It makes me sick,” Kyuhyun said, hissing it out as the walked back onto the sidewalk.

“We can only do what we can. Let’s get you something to eat, and then maybe go to your apartment. We can get clothes for you, or see what we should do next.”

It would be more comfortable for Zhou Mi at his own apartment, with his special windows, but if he had to wear his protective gear for a while to make Kyuhyun more comfortable, then he would. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t before. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just there. Kyuhyun’s stomach growled in response to Zhou Mi’s words, and he smiled wryly back at Zhou Mi. There were a lot of things that Zhou Mi couldn’t do for him. He couldn’t fix what had been done, or maybe even find who had done it.

But he could at least make sure Kyuhyun was fed.

***

 

***

Kyuhyun hadn’t realized just how hungry that he was until they passed a food stall, and ordered nearly enough for two meals. Zhou Mi ended up carrying part of it, while he stripped chicken into his mouth as they walked. Zhou Mi seemed a little hesitant, as though Kyuhyun was going to choke as they went, but he didn’t want to sit and eat. He’d seen the looks the stall owner had given Zhou Mi, catching random glances as people walked by them. Hyper aware. And possibly too quick to leap to judgement. Some of them were probably just curious. Maybe. Or they knew what a vampire wore. But how was it that he hadn’t? He’d lost interest after hitting his teens, and finding games.

“Do all these people know what you are?” he asked.

“Some of them,” Zhou Mi said. “When I came down to the Vampire Affairs office as an adult for the first time, I was told there used to be more vampires in this area. By the time I came along, they’d moved or died. They won’t tell me if there are others, and unless I see someone walking around like this? If there are others, maybe they only go out at night so people won’t know.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Would it make my life easier, if I were always hiding?” Zhou Mi asked as they paused at a crosswalk to wait for a light to change.

“Maybe it’d keep a few more idiots off your back.”

“Maybe it’ll teach a few that I’m not here to be feared, too.”

Zhou Mi started walking, and it took a few steps to get himself in motion in the wake of Zhou Mi’s words.

How much optimism was good before it was stupid? He probably would’ve walked around sending lasers out of his eyes if he were the subject of those curious stares.

“How much of every day do you put toward hoping that?” Kyuhyun asked, throwing some of the wrapping of his lunch into a trash can they passed.

Zhou Mi just smiled, the expression slightly shimmery behind the cloth. “Only in my dreams.”

The thought sickened him a little, and he led Zhou Mi up a flight of stairs to his own apartment. Picking up his mail, and wandering in. Nothing had changed. Obviously. It had been barely a day? His place hadn’t changed, but it seemed like he sure had. He’d gone out to get cereal, and had come back with a vampire. He took the rest of his lunch and the packet of papers from Zhou Mi and rolled his eyes a little.

Bureaucracy at work.

“It’s nice,” Zhou Mi told him, wandering to his bookshelves.

“It’s a place to keep my junk,” Kyuhyun said, and plopped down to finish eating. At best the apartment was small, definitely smaller than Zhou Mi’s. Books, his TV, his computer desk. An easy chair to curl up in, his bed, and tiny kitchen. It wasn’t much, but it was comfortable, and cheap, and close to where he worked. It wasn’t like he needed much else.

Zhou Mi let him eat in silence, which was about until his stomach caught on to the fact that he was trying to bolt two meals for the price of one and gave protest. Zhou Mi had come to sit beside him, shifting through the papers with the occasional perplexed look. He realized belatedly that he should’ve offered to pull his blinds or something, so Zhou Mi could undress a little. But it was a little late for that.

“So you said something about food before you got your teeth? What did you eat before me? Vampires aren’t some kind of air ferns, are they?”

Zhou Mi’s lips curved almost immediately. “No, not an air fern. I was able to eat some human food as a child. The teeth I use to feed with didn’t come in until I was almost twenty. After that, I couldn’t eat any vegetable matter, though tea doesn’t affect me. Animal blood, mostly, after that. My body was transitioning to get ready for a blood bond, since blood would be all I needed. Before yesterday, I lived close enough to a butcher, who could supply me with cow’s blood. But I won’t need that any more.”

No. Because now he had Kyuhyun. The thought of the cow’s blood made him almost more ill than the thought of his own. Maybe because he didn’t know how Zhou Mi ate it. Yum, a nice mug of blood? But it was interesting to him, anyway. That vampires ate normal food, or animal blood. He’d always known they hadn’t eaten humans - but for that cleverly left out blood bond - but he’d never known what else they would’ve eaten. And apparently hadn’t had the intent to go seek out that information.

He figured he could pack a bag with some clothes, some food from his kitchen. He was accepting the part where maybe he’d be staying with Zhou Mi a little while, but he definitely hadn’t gotten to being okay with staying there forever. Zhou Mi had books out his ears, so he could study if nothing else.

He nearly fell over Zhou Mi’s legs as someone pounded on the door. They considered each other for a moment. Zhou Mi was right behind him, slightly to the side and out of the line of sight as he opened the door. Too soon after being yanked off the street for many surprises to be accepted. But it was his landlord, looking nervous and impatient.

“Is it true?” the man asked. “I just got a call from the Office of Vampire Affairs that said you were…binded, blood…whatever, to some monster?”

Filling out those forms had been more than just for records, he realized. A sick chill washed over him that every contact he’d been forced to put down had been notified, like he was some plague-carrying rat let loose on society.

Zhou Mi moved, and the man’s eyes fixed on him. “Hell, it’s true. I called a truck and some movers, just in case. You can be out of here by tonight.”

Kyuhyun gaped, following the man into the hallway when he started to walk away. “Wait, are you kicking me out of my apartment? I have a lease!”

“I’ll compensate you for the rest of the month,” the man said, and kept edging away. “If the other tenants thought there was a, you know, around then I’d have trouble! The movers are on me.”

“What the hell?” he asked the empty hallway.

Zhou Mi was standing in the doorway, arms tightly crossed as though he was cold. And Kyuhyun could almost feel the apology exuding from him. He put things in motion before it could be spoken, and left Zhou Mi there folding clothes from his closet while he jogged to the nearest grocery store to beg a tower of boxes. It was hard to move if he was going to be dragging books out stack by stack. His clothes could go in garbage bags, and so could other things. Zhou Mi tried to ask him a few questions, and he just grimly pointed Zhou Mi to the next task. They’d gotten some headway, clearing out the furniture so it could be moved and stacking other things behind it. All he could do was watch as his bed was carried out by the movies, his table and chairs. Packing things from his kitchen into bags and the few boxes the movers had brought.

Zhou Mi stayed back out of the way, which was probably good given some of the looks the movers were giving him. It was when Kyuhyun finished emptying his bathroom, right down to yanking the half empty toilet paper roll off the wall because damned if he was going to leave that miser a single thing - that he really realized what was going on. Sure it didn’t mean he had to move in with Zhou Mi. If he’d really tried, maybe he could’ve found a less narrow-minded landlord. But as he moved around, making sure all he left were dust bunnies and trash, he realized it didn’t make much sense to. The landlord had clearly assumed that Kyuhyun had a place to take everything - to Zhou Mi’s government subsidized housing.

He stared at a spot on the wall that had held pictures from a vacation he’d taken for the last year, and all that was there was a nail.

“Everything gone, then?” Zhou Mi asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I didn’t even ask you if—“

“What’s mine is yours now,” Zhou Mi told him. “And when your blood test is confirmed, it’ll be legally that way. You didn’t have to ask.”

“Promise me you won’t smother me in my sleep.”

Zhou Mi laughed, and promised. And he closed the door to one life, and opened the door to another.

***

Zhou Mi stared around, sighing. His apartment was a disaster. And given the disaster that Zhou Mi had already made with the books that morning, it was an even bigger disaster. Kyuhyun’s furniture, mattress, his boxes of books, bags of clothes, bags and boxes of everything else, all being deposited without much fanfare. It was all Zhou Mi could do to buzz around and move things out of the way, and drag the occasional bag or box to their eventual destination, such as kitchen or bedroom. Kyuhyun was helping muscle things around, but he seemed to have lost his focus somewhere in the middle, and had a kind of bewildered look on his face. As if the blood bonding wasn’t enough, to have his location upended? If Kyuhyun had allowed it, he might have tried to draw him into a hug. But he wasn’t sure if Kyuhyun was even a hug type of guy. Maybe he’d see it as a come on, even, which was way far from what Zhou Mi would’ve meant it as.

But the movers eventually were through, Kyuhyun checking the truck to be sure, signing off on it. And eyeballing the vista of boxes as though it was the Great Wall that needed to be dismantled in a few hours.

“This can be tackled later,” Zhou Mi said, steering him into the bedroom. “Take a shower, and I’ll find the food you brought so you can have dinner. You can start on all that later.”

Kyuhyun stared back at the piles of his things. “Do you know what bag has my clothes in it?”

“I dragged one of them into the bedroom, and your dresser is behind the book boxes. Er. Banana boxes that have books in them.”

Kyuhyun managed to find what he needed, and while he heard the shower run, Zhou Mi found the food. Even if he didn’t eat food, even he knew how to cook ramen. So there was hot soup and tea by the time that Kyuhyun emerged, a little damp and seemingly a lot more focused.

“This part of living with someone isn’t so bad,” Kyuhyun joked, accepting the bowl and mug and ending up in a corner of the living room on the floor because all the furniture was covered with his stuff.

“You seem to know a lot about vampires,” Kyuhyun said. “But there are other things you don’t seem really clear on. Why is that?”

It was not a fact that he’d intended to keep secret. In fact, he’d thought about talking to Kyuhyun about his past at several moments throughout the day, and it had obviously just not been the right time or opportunity. But it was, then. To tell Kyuhyun of the baby who was found abandoned, well-clothed but alone. Taken to the nearest hospital where the doctors and nurses were horrified to discover that the child was no ordinary human. Not that babies had teeth of any kind anyway, and his extra vampire teeth hadn’t grown in until he was nearly twenty. But they had known. And one of the nurses, not caring if he was vampire or not, bundled him up and took him home to her surprised husband. They had been trying for a child themselves for many years, and even being what he was, Zhou Mi had seemed like a good interim option.

Though he was the only child they ever had His mother did her best to educate him about what he was. It was her love and guidance that kept him from reviling his difference. It wasn’t like there were doctors who specialized in a species that didn’t really get sick. But there were books, and he read those as soon as he learned to do so. Adoring his mother, and respecting and loving his father, and trying to be the best son he could be. Human or not. He knew full well that they hadn’t had to take him. He hadn’t wanted them to regret that choice. Even if he knew it had been hard. Shunned by some of their friends for the little boy who had to play outside covered head to toe. He’d had a few friends in neighborhood children whose parents weren’t afraid. He hadn’t grown up secluded like some kind of monster.

And he gave Kyuhyun the short version of that, giving him a window into Zhou Mi’s life.

“Do you see your parents often?” Kyuhyun asked, cupping his mug of tea.

Zhou Mi cleared his throat. Ah. That part. “My father survived my mother by several years, but… He died 20 years ago.”

Kyuhyun stared at him as though he had just said that his father was really a skunk who ate rubber for breakfast.

“Twenty… How old are you?”

“46,” Zhou Mi told him.

“So I just got blood bonded to someone who could be my father?”

Zhou Mi laughed, reaching up to touch his own neck. “I hope I don’t look like your father.”

“You don’t look older than me,” Kyuhyun said. “Do you just stop aging at a certain point?”

“More or less,” Zhou Mi said. “At least that’s what the books say.”

“So you’ll stay young while your partner ages?”

“That’s a good question.” And it was one he didn’t really know the answer to. One of those regrets he had about not growing up around any vampires at all. He had no reference to go by at all, besides what he’d found on dusty shelves and in his own continued existence. “Somewhere in these books, it should tell us.”

And instead of working on unpacking, they rearranged so there were seats, taking a stack of books each. He had pencil and paper, jotting notes, and Kyuhyun making humming noises as he read through a vampire physiology book. Every so often, a question here or there, but for the most part, silence. Companionable enough, for what it was worth. He studied Kyuhyun’s profile from under his eyelashes, the straight nose and full mouth. Was it a face he’d have paid a second glance on the street? Maybe the hair needed a slightly better cut, going just the slightest bit shaggy at the ends, but he saw a possibility for great attraction there. Considering, he thought, instead of Kyuhyun they could have kidnapped someone out of a nursing home and truly sentenced his life short. Or perhaps the bond only worked in those who were of a certain age. He sighed, and kept reading.

When he started falling asleep without effort, he got up, bustling into his - now their - bedroom, and tidying. Eyeballing what he could move so that Kyuhyun’s dresser would fit, and thinking he could either get rid of some clothes or move them to the other room so that Kyuhyun could hang things up. He finished getting ready for bed in the bathroom, wandering back out to see that Kyuhyun was still immersed in his book.

“The books will still be here tomorrow,” Zhou Mi assured him. “You should get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

“You’re not my mom or my keeper,” Kyuhyun grumbled. But when he blinked at the time, he put the piece of paper as marker in the book. “My eyes feel ready to roll out of my head.”

“Then come to bed, please.”

It filled Zhou Mi with relief, because the last thing he wanted was to engage Kyuhyun in a fight so soon. He crawled beneath the cozy blankets, hearing Kyuhyun ready himself for bed. The slight dip of the mattress, and the adjusting. The light being turned out.

“You haven’t fed since yesterday.”

“It’s okay,” Zhou Mi dismissed. “I don’t need to feed every day.”

“Well. I don’t need to eat every day, but I still do.”

He wondered if Kyuhyun could actually hear his hesitation. That Kyuhyun would offer it to him.

“You said it yourself that it doesn’t hurt me,” Kyuhyun griped. “And you probably can’t focus as well if you’re sniffing after blood you can’t get. So just do it.”

Kyuhyun nearly smashed his arm into Zhou Mi’s nose, and Zhou Mi wrapped his hand around it. Inhaling the scent of Kyuhyun’s pulsing blood, and the skin. And Kyuhyun’s willing sacrifice. Twice he’d fed from Kyuhyun, and tasted mere droplets at other times. He’d gone all his life without the need for human blood, and it was there in front of him like some kind of abundant bouquet. From Kyuhyun, who breathed quietly, trying to keep still for him. He could see himself biting that arching neck, Kyuhyun bucking beneath him at the heady pleasure of it. Delighting in the rich spill of body into body, mimicking an act he could but think to want.

He wondered if he would have found any other’s blood so perfect, that the first beading droplets sent shivers through him. Glad that he was causing Kyuhyun no pain.

“Thank you,” he whispered, and drank his fill.

***

Kyuhyun stared at the clock. The time slowly filtered into his brain.

“Is it Monday?” he asked out loud, as though the walls would answer him.

“Yes, it is,” came the disembodied, Zhou Mi-sounding voice from the bathroom.

“Shit! Shit, shit.”

If he didn’t get dressed, oh…in the next fifteen minutes and get out the door, he was going to be late for work. He all but upended the bag of clothes, trying to find the least wrinkled and folded work attire that he could. It still was all pretty awful. He didn’t acknowledge the pair of legs that pulled up beside him, opting to stand with his clothes in his arms.

“I have to go to work.”

Zhou Mi made a tsk-ing sound at the the twisted leg of the pants Kyuhyun was holding.

“Go wash up, or do what you need to do. I’ll run an iron across whatever needs it really quickly and hang them on the bathroom door.”

“I don’t have that long,” Kyuhyun warned, but allowed Zhou Mi to take everything but his underwear from him. Luckily he’d found his toothbrush the night before, so he was able to get ready without too much issue. Borrowing a little hair goop from one of the bottles on the counter. He’d almost finished, when Zhou Mi tapped on the door to tell him that the clothes were there.

Pressed, and just a little bit warm, he thought, shimmying into them. He tied his tie, and considered himself a moment in the mirror. He didn’t look any different. He didn’t think he screamed “vampire bride” or whatever the hell he was. Zhou Mi was buzzing around the disaster area that was the front room, and he saw two things right off: Zhou Mi was apparently getting ready as though Kyuhyun was going off to school, and he was actually going to get out the door on time because of it.

“I found your work bag, or what I think it is?” Zhou Mi said. “Your cell phone is in it. Oh, and I put a note in there with my cell phone number in case you need anything. Also, I put a key to the apartment in there. You didn’t have breakfast, but there was leftover ramen, so the container is in a baggie if you can heat that up at work? And a banana, too, since you had those. I don’t know what you do for lunch. Do you have money?”

He checked his wallet and confirm that.

“Yeah. I’m good. Thanks.” He took the bag from Zhou Mi’s hands, and paused wondering what the heck he was supposed to be doing then. Leave, clearly, since it wasn’t like they were going to hug and kiss and promise to miss each other until work was over. “Okay. Bye.”

“Bye,” Zhou Mi said, hanging back slightly as he stepped into his shoes and opened the door. “Have a good day.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Maybe the only part of seeing someone off that Zhou Mi knew was from his mother. As he clattered down the stairs, he realized about all Zhou Mi had missed giving him was a pat on the head. That or Zhou Mi thought he was the vampire bride. At least that thought gave him a laugh on the way down into the subway.

Of course, on the subway itself, he made way for an elderly man. And the subject of Zhou Mi’s age went floating by. Zhou Mi definitely did not look like Kyuhyun’s father or grandfather. Not that he’d spent a whole heck of a lot of time analyzing how Zhou Mi looked as a factor to, say, their life situation. But it wasn’t that hard to picture last night, Zhou Mi laughing into his hand in the light of the reading lamp, and telling him about his past. Not unattractive, and definitely not looking like he was 46. If Zhou Mi had been human and had hit on him, he’d definitely given it more than a few passing thoughts. But how stupid would it be, to mix pleasure with, well. What was currently an accidental business and life transaction. But that wasn’t what he was doing at all. Just analyzing a particularly interesting facet of their situation. Yeah, this guy almost twice his age is sucking his blood. No problem. 

***


	3. Chapter Four and Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

Kyuhyun rubbed the spot on his wrist that Zhou Mi had bitten as he walked into the front door of his office’s building. The evidence of it was long gone, but he still knew exactly where the teeth had pierced him. He had a suspicion that Zhou Mi wasn’t “feeding” quite as much as he could have been. And probably he shouldn’t have cared, but he supposed it was normal. Zhou Mi had said he’d be producing more blood, so who knew if it got dangerous?

By some miracle, he was only about five minutes later than he usually was, calling a greeting to his nearest coworker, and plotting to get his soup in the fridge and survive on a banana until lunch.

“Hey, Kyuhyun, can I see you a minute?” his boss called.

“Trouble so early?” he heard as a tease from Ryeowook, and rolled his eyes in response.

But just hearing his boss call his name had started anxiety pinging in the bottom of his stomach. His landlord had heard after less than a couple of hours, so had they let his work know so quickly also? Zhou Mi had assured him that he couldn’t be fired, but he wasn’t sure. He could be let go for any various reasons. And he respected his boss, over the past year and a half that he’d been working there. So he really didn’t want to assume that there would be antagonism, but who knew? He clearly had been prejudiced himself without much foreknowledge at all. He closed the door of the office quietly, sitting when he was bid to. And tried to keep his fingers from knotting together in his lap.

“I got a call this morning, and I’m pretty sure you know what that’s about?” his boss asked.

“Yes, sir,” Kyuhyun agreed.

“I wanted to bring it up and not make you have to come to me about it, since I imagine this could be pretty awkward. I didn’t know you were dating anyone even?”

How much of the truth to tell? His boss, at least, deserved most of it. He didn’t know if it was going to inspire pity, or a dislike of Zhou Mi himself, but he could only do what he could. Describing the kidnapping, on both their parts. Hey, I got hitched to a vampire because of a few idiots, only in slightly less weird phrasing.

“And we registered, as we had to. My landlord kicked me out yesterday because of it, so I’m living with Zhou Mi now. But we’re going to be looking into a way to reverse the bond.”

“What if you can’t find a way?” his boss asked.

Kyuhyun stared, unsure. He hadn’t even let his brain consider that. It had only been two days. They had so much time to research and figure something out. And if he still had a job, it was like free rent. Free for the price of blood. And maybe Zhou Mi had mellowed in his old age. He held back a chuckle.

“Well, we’ll be looking, anyway.”

His boss hummed, thoughtful. “We had a vampire neighbor when I was small, who was bonded. Though it was a man and woman. My parents taught me that there was nothing to fear from them, though they moved before I was very old. I’m sorry for what you went through, Kyuhyun. That would be hard on anyone. But you’re aware that all your coworkers have to be informed?”

“Yes.” And he sighed at the thought. “I’ve been wondering how to tell them.”

Tell them in a herd so they could be shamed into keeping their reactions calm, or individually?

“Honesty may be best in this instance. I can step in and mediate if there are any particular reactions. The part in the employee handbook is a little slim on how to deal with blood bonded employees.”

Kyuhyun could only be silent and agree. Not that he’d seen it. But it didn’t leave much to the imagination. There was probably even a codicil, like, I know it says to be civil but just hope you never get into a blood bond yourself.

But it was, as ever, a place to begin.

“Also, a courier came just before you did. I signed for it, so no one else saw.”

The envelope was marked Office of Vampire Affairs. He closed his eyes. His blood test, maybe. Fantastic. If anyone else had seen, then it would’ve been so much for letting everyone know in a different way.

Their office wasn’t all that big. Four men, three women. His boss, and Kyuhyun. Everyone was there that morning, and curious as to why his boss called their attention.

“Kyuhyun has something he needs to tell you.”

He’d made the call, to say it himself. He had friends there, and he focused on Ryeowook, the one friend he spent the most time with.

“I don’t know how else to put this, but. This weekend I was blood bonded to a vampire.”

No one fainted. Or tried to drive a stake into him. At least there was that.

***

Kyuhyun assured them that there wasn’t any danger to them, that he was still the same. Telling them that he was basically married to a male vampire. He was a little vague on the details. Maybe he could tell his boss the finer points, but telling a room at large that he’d been forcibly bitten was a little less than optimal. And he couldn’t imagine that it would really favorably impact their opinions on vampires, even if it hadn’t been Zhou Mi’s fault. Phrases like _temporary situation_ and _making the best of it_ left his mouth like he was some hopeful bot. It was just that he was required to tell them, or rather their workplace was required to let them know. He didn’t ask for questions like it was some kind ridiculous school assembly. But his boss had offered that his door was open, which took some of the onus off of Kyuhyun’s shoulders. He figured if there really were questions, they were adult enough to actually come to him.

Also, there was the internet, though from what he’d seen the sites ranged from looking like vampires belonged in UFOs to wonderings about why the government didn’t just do away with them entirely. Still, there was some neutral stuff out there, and he did send a link out to one site on the approval of his boss. Just for so. He kind of had that awkward hope that if he didn’t make too big of a deal, then it wouldn’t seem like too big of a deal to them. Or he figured he could try at the very least.

He ate his leftover ramen at his desk, which wasn’t quite enough but he figured he’d deal. The banana by then had been long gone from his stomach. And it wasn’t like he was avoiding them, he just really didn’t want to play show and tell at the lunch table. At least not on the first day. He hadn’t become some museum quality relic, or some kind of ticking time bomb, just because of who he lived with.

But when he turned to joke with Ryeowook about an email from a supplier that just came in. But the person he knew best in the office, his friend, didn’t even look up, or even really reply to him. As though Kyuhyun hadn’t spoken at all. All there was was an uncomfortable shift, and Ryeowook typing away.

And that was when Kyuhyun’s stomach began to knot.

He didn’t want to call Ryeowook on it in the middle of the day, hoping to talk to him as they were leaving. But that didn’t really work either, because Ryeowook left while Kyuhyun was doing an end-of-the-day check-in with his boss. There had been a few people who’d dropped in to chat with his boss, just as a curious sort of thing. His boss hadn’t named names, but Kyuhyun knew for a fact that Ryeowook hadn’t been one of them. It didn’t make his uncomfortable feeling lessen any.

***

Kyuhyun had to stop himself from buying liquor on the way back to the apartment, nearly going the wrong way on the subway - toward his old apartment instead of toward Zhou Mi’s. But he did buy food, to supplement what he knew he’d packed. He didn’t have to worry about suiting Zhou Mi’s tastes, since even if there were two people, he was still cooking for one. And he _was_ the meal for the other.

Zhou Mi popped into sight with a minute of Kyuhyun letting himself into the apartment. He’d considered knocking, but figured that was just kind of stupid. Even if he hadn’t been gone that long, he could see Zhou Mi had clearly made a dent in the cleaning. Kyuhyun’s book boxes settled near the shelves, other boxes missing to where he assumed was probably kitchen or bathroom. He didn’t really care if Zhou Mi was looking through his things. It wasn’t like he had stacks of porn or something that he was incredibly embarrassed about. That was all safely locked on his computer, thank you.

“Looks better in here,” he said, and tried to imagine just how he was going to thank Zhou Mi for working on it. Give a vampire a massage? Extra bite for a snack? If it had been him, and some guy who wasn’t too excited to be there had just invaded his apartment? He would not be a Zhou Mi-type busy bee, but would’ve expected whoever to clean up their own crap. And there were probably some papers and junk he could get rid of, he thought. Merging two apartments wasn’t exactly easy.

Even Zhou Mi seemed at a loss for some of it, considering Kyuhyun’s easy chair was still in the middle of the floor like some kind of overstuffed museum piece.

“They didn’t fire you?” Zhou Mi asked, anxious, with some kind of rag in his hands.

“No. No. My boss was pretty understanding actually. But I guess he’s obligated by law to tell everyone in the office about me? So I did, this morning. So far so good, I guess.”

He didn’t bother bringing up Ryeowook. He didn’t want to turn it into some kind of guilt trip on Zhou Mi’s end, and it wasn’t as though Ryeowook was going anywhere. He’d get to talk to him soon, anyway.

“I’m so glad. I hope it goes really smoothly tomorrow, too.”

“Yeah, me too.” And then he remembered the couriered letter. “Oh. The Vampire Affairs office sent me a letter.”

He fished it out, opening it as Zhou Mi stepped closer.

Kyuhyun skimmed, murmuring out loud.

“Vampire antibodies present, blood bonding confirmed under one week. No fine incurred. Stipend raised 25%? I’m only worth a 25% raise? That’s crap.”

“Probably because you would be able to work,” Zhou Mi said. “That 25% is probably for food. I guess we should be lucky that they don’t cut the stipend off entirely.”

“Get bitten, and get to support someone. That’d be a great exchange.”

But his stomach vocally protesting cut short any other philosophic conversation on the state of affairs.

He had his dinner, and some leftovers from the day before. He probably would’ve gotten a bowl of cereal too, if he’d had anything to put on it. He was making extra blood, not magically romping on a treadmill all hours of the day. And he didn’t want to have to go buy new clothes because his ass suddenly wouldn’t fit. They said relationships were bad on people’s physiques, well. He wasn’t going to be one of those people. He wondered if Zhou Mi feeding counted as a calorie burn. His luck, probably not.

Though as he ate, the blood test and the repercussions of it sank in. He wasn’t just taking Zhou Mi’s word for it any more. If the blood test had been negative, the government would’ve nullified the bond. Why pay out a 25% raise if it was all a joke? It meant that beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was blood bonded to Zhou Mi. And that there wasn’t any getting around it from a logical sense. Sure, the registering, and the bargain he and Zhou Mi had struck had been fine and all. But it was temporary. Even when his boss had asked him, he’d been saying it was temporary.

In the eyes of the government, it was official. Real. And very permanent.

But if the government knew of everyone who was unbonded, of everyone who was? Kyuhyun’s brain paused.

“If they can tell, if they’re paying for your keep— Wouldn’t the government have a stake in seeing there aren’t many vampires? I mean, you were essentially sterilized.”

The frown that crossed Zhou Mi’s face was vivid. “Perhaps, but to think of the government doing this, or hiring someone to?”

“Well, think about it. They know who all the vampires are, because they have to register. They’d know who was blood bound or not. So if it’s not the government, then maybe someone with access to those records.”

“Maybe. Maybe. I don’t know. That’s too hard to think about. But if that’s the reason, why did they wait so long?”

That he couldn’t answer. Zhou Mi had been alive 46 years, and with his blood teeth at least 26. 26 years was a long time to let a vampire languish around, if people were out actively trying to keep vampires from reproducing. So maybe they didn’t have access to all the records, or maybe they went off word of mouth. Zhou Mi hadn’t really been trying to hide. He hadn’t been dancing in the street shouting about it, either. But just trying to live his life. Too much stupid hate to even think about. But another question stumped him.

“If vampires were in short supply, what was stopping you from going out and impregnating a hundred women?”

“Besides a hundred women who wouldn’t want to raise a vampire child?” Zhou Mi asked. “Sperm doesn’t become motile until after a blood bonding. But I wasn’t really thinking that much about the continuance of the species.”

“Well at least you can’t knock me up,” Kyuhyun joked weakly. There was that. Small comfort.

But in a way, he was thankful for all the questions he had. It gave them, or even himself, a place to start looking. The more he knew about what Zhou Mi was, what the bond was? The more they might be able to figure out what to do about it. And it meant that the boxes he got up and faced had to be dealt with. Maybe it’d take a week, or a month. Or a year. But when they’d fixed it, he could deal with his stuff then. He couldn’t live like a transient in Zhou Mi’s apartment. It didn’t seem like Zhou Mi was an ultra neat freak, but it would probably bug even him to have stacks of things around.

“I guess I can make a dent in this before I sleep.”

“I’ll help,” Zhou Mi said, popping to his feet. “Oh, I’ll put on music! What do you like?”

It turned out that Zhou Mi’s peppy choice of CD didn’t make him want to claw his ears out. It was actually pretty pleasant, if sorting through junk and making piles of things to get rid of while trying to find locations for everything else could ever be pleasant. Stopping only long enough to shove more food in his mouth as Zhou Mi stacked books onto shelves, and then helping Zhou Mi move his bed frame and mattress into the spare room where there was thankfully room against a wall upright without overtaking all the space. He stared at Zhou Mi’s sewing machine, the stacks of bins with fabric and whatever. Interesting. He didn’t think he’d ever known someone who sewed before, so it was a totally new concept for him. But bad, not really. He’d ended the day with a job, and that seemed like a success to him.

***

Kyuhyun thought of work rather prosaically. He went, he did what he had to do - thankfully something he also knew how to do - and went home. That gave him money to fund his hobbies. Also, to feed himself, which was a hobby he did try not to indulge in too freely, given all things. He got to exist in general comfort, his work got to make money, everyone was happy. He’d at least been able to eat an actual breakfast since his alarm had gone off. And take a lunch as well. And all of that without Zhou Mi hovering over him. All in all, a good morning. And he’d even made the right train, which was miracle enough itself.

And no one had moved away when he got there. There weren’t strings of garlic adorning his desk, or anything weird like that. He thought the garlic thing was actually pretty fake, but he didn’t know. He’d have to ask Zhou Mi. Would it poison Zhou Mi through his blood if Kyuhyun ate it? Zhou Mi probably would have told him if it did. Kyuhyun just said a good morning, installed himself at his desk, and anticipated life going on. He hadn’t changed, was the point. He was the same person who rolled his eyes while on the telephone, and shook the fax machine. Seriously. The fax machine. What year were they living in, anyway?

But the usual greeting from Ryeowook wasn’t there. Again, ignored even though his greeting had been directed almost directly at the seated man. Lunchtime, he decided. He couldn’t wait longer than that. He’d never known Ryeowook to be prejudiced or cruel, and they were good enough friends that he thought he deserved an answer. When Ryeowook got up to get his tea, Kyuhyun followed. And got the relative privacy of their tiny office kitchen.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“Don’t touch me,” Ryeowook pleaded, shrinking back from Kyuhyun’s offered hand as though it was made of poison.

“Okay. You realize I’m not a vampire, right? I can’t bite you, or infect you. What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ryeowook said. “Let me out.”

“I thought we were friends. You don’t even know what happened. If you’re so disgusted by—”

“You didn’t even tell me!” Ryeowook argued. “Just showed up to work and told everyone like it was no big deal.”

“It was a huge deal! It was such a big deal, I didn’t even know how to tell myself. My parents don’t even know, damn it.”

Ryeowook’s face shuttered. “Why would you not tell your parents? Are you ashamed? How long have you been keeping your relationship a secret?”

Kyuhyun huffed out a laugh. “Look. There are some things you don’t know. Have dinner with me after work, and I can tell you. It’s not what you think. I haven’t been keeping things from you.”

Ryeowook’s frown had him on edge, but there was acceptance there, too. “Just you and me?”

“Yeah. You and me.”

***

Kyuhyun was slightly comforted by the fact that Ryeowook didn’t book it out of work like some kind of hellmonster was going to grab him if he stayed. Kyuhyun did what he had never done before, and texted Zhou Mi to let him know he was going to eat dinner out and be late. That was the problem with living someone. The expectations. He sighed, and virtually crossed his fingers for luck. After he and Ryeowook had chosen a restaurant, gotten seated and ordered, Ryeowook sort of looked around.

“You don’t have to tell them?”

Kyuhyun’s eyebrows rose. That he was blood bonded? Perhaps he should tattoo it on his forehead or something.

“Tell them what? That I’m going to eat their food? I’m not going to spit in someone else’s. I’m not contagious.”

“I don’t understand. We just had lunch on Thursday? You weren’t even dating someone. And a vamp—“

“Shh,” he quieted Ryeowook’s outburst. Thankfully they were far enough away, and the music was loud enough that no one could overhear. “No, I didn’t plan this. I wasn’t dating Zhou Mi. I was kidnapped.”

“By the vampire?” Ryeowook whispered, goggling.

“No. Not by the vampire.” He tried to imagine Zhou Mi kidnapping anyone and almost slapped his forehead. “By a bunch of jerkoffs who like to think they’re making the world a better place. Because hey, cutting my wrist and forcing a vampire to drink from it is great weekend entertainment.”

He extended his arm, showing Ryeowook the fading cut.

“It wasn’t the vam— It wasn’t Zhou Mi’s fault. He was fighting just as hard to get away. But him drinking any at all causes a blood bond, which means he can only ever— My blood, that’s it for him.”

“But he had to have drank blood before then?” Ryeowook wondered.

“Animal blood. No human blood. I mean, seriously, his life is now tied to mine. He can’t have kids. He dies not too long after I do. It wasn’t an attack on me as much as it was a death sentence on him. And I’m living with him now because my landlord kicked me to the curb as soon as he knew. Even if there’s no danger to anyone.”

“He must be lying to you. He can eat other…people. All of them can.”

They were silent a few moments as their food was set down, but Kyuhyun shook his head.

“No. He told me, and I looked it up, too. He ate food just like us, and then animal blood. If he bit a human, he’d be bonded to them. Like he is to me right now. There are books that were written way before you or I were born about the blood bonds.” The illustrations, the smell of must, were vivid to him. “And the effects on humans, I’ve experienced those. They’re medical, science books. Not some kind of vampire propaganda.”

Ryeowook’s eyes still weren’t quite meeting his. “Doesn’t it freak you out, living with him? Or… You said the blood bond was like a marriage? Like a real marriage?”

“I’m not sleeping with him, if that’s what you’re asking. We haven’t even known each other three days, and two of those I’ve been at work. But he’s honestly the least creepy guy I’ve ever met in my life. There are probably puppies that are more creepy than he is. He sews clothes, I mean. Really?”

“But your vampire is nice?”

Kyuhyun’s stomach shifted at the use of the word _his_. As though he somehow owned Zhou Mi, or was, well— _bound_ to him. Apparently he still wasn’t quite used to that idea.

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy. Why don’t you meet him. Just a few minutes, even. I don’t know why you’re scared of vampires, or what you’ve been told, but maybe it’ll help. You’re my friend. I don’t want to lose that because of me suddenly being a food source. Why are you so weirded out?”

“I don’t want to talk abut it,” Ryeowook insisted. “I don’t. But maybe meeting the vamp— Zhou Mi? Would be okay. Thank you. For telling me. I thought you didn’t trust me any more.”

“No. Maybe we can meet you tomorrow for dinner.” After the sun set. No sense lifting Ryeowook’s alarm with Zhou Mi’s special gear. Some of the sick worry abated when Ryeowook almost reluctantly agreed. But it was still something. It wasn’t like he could talk down the prejudices of every single person in the city, but if he couldn’t with his own friend, then he really didn’t know what he was doing.

***

 

***

Zhou Mi was beginning to put his life back together. He couldn’t spend 8 or 9 hours every day just waiting for Kyuhyun to get back. Wondering if Kyuhyun was okay. Wondering if Kyuhyun even was coming back. He’d had a life before, and it didn’t revolve around organizing Kyuhyun’s things, cleaning them, or otherwise obsessing about Kyuhyun’s existence. He spent the morning tidying and reading, and the afternoon with his sewing machine. He figured actually making something he could sell would be better than sitting around angsting. Maybe he had looked up at the clock once or twice, just to check on the progress of the day. Cursing the stupid machine for its loose seam, and spending extra time ripping it right back out before adjusting the tension. He managed to cut and finish a woman’s shirt, before he heard his phone going off. Racing for it with something bordering on irrational panic. A text, from Kyuhyun, saying he would be late because he was eating out.

Zhou Mi allowed himself a moment to flop on the couch in a huff. Fully realizing that Kyuhyun’s life didn’t revolve around _him_ either. And he was the tiniest bit hurt that Kyuhyun hadn’t invited him out. But who knew if Kyuhyun thought that was impolite? Since Zhou Mi couldn’t eat. And Zhou Mi tried to conjure an image of Kyuhyun’s friend and how close they were, going places he had no reason to go. He was curious. About Kyuhyun, who he was. He wanted to know more. Beyond just Kyuhyun’s favorite color or animal. About his family, his life, his philosophies. Even if it was stupid of him to want to know, when Kyuhyun undoubtedly thought that the less they knew about each other, the better. He dragged himself from his funk and focused on ripping a shirt apart that he was planning on reconstructing. He’d bought it because he liked the fabric. Maybe he could make something cute, he thought grimly. Like a toaster cover.

He’d moved on to the very enviable task of snipping off extra threads when he heard the door. Sidling out as though he was nonchalant even though that was clearly an utter fable.

“How was dinner?” he asked, as Kyuhyun hung up his jacket and stubbed his feet into his slippers.

“Not too bad,” Kyuhyun said simply.

“And work?”

“Just another day for the most part. No major drama from most of them. A few questions, not bad.”

“Did you want tea?”

“Please,” Kyuhyun said, sinking down into a chair at the table. “The reason I had this dinner tonight was that one of my coworkers is a pretty good friend of mine. And he was being kind of weird yesterday, not talking to me, kind of avoiding. And he didn’t even want me touching him today, so I wanted to talk to him and see what was up.”

“Oh no,” he murmured, not even knowing what else he could say. Losing a friend because of what Zhou Mi was, after everything else that had happened? That wasn’t even fair.

“So I got him to agree to meet you, maybe tomorrow if that’s okay with you. I’ll come home and change, and we can go.”

“Oh,” Zhou Mi said, liking the idea immensely. “So if he knows who I am, and not some faceless vampire waiting to poison him, or you, or something. That’s smart.”

“If you’re okay with going.”

“Yeah, of course. I hope it’ll help him accept it. At least. Until.”

Kyuhyun nodded. Until there was no blood bond to worry about. Not that Zhou Mi still had very much hope in that aspect. All he had to try for was patience until Kyuhyun might accept that, too.

***

Laundering some of Kyuhyun’s clothes, more reading, more sewing. It filled the next day waiting to go out to meet Kyuhyun’s friend. He couldn’t lie to himself and say he was okay with it. He’d also spent a decent amount of time touring his closet. He figured they weren’t going anywhere fancy, but he didn’t want to look lazy. Judged because he wasn’t good enough for Kyuhyun? Well, no. He would never, by nature of what he was, be “good enough” by the world’s standards. But he was not some kind of creep. He was just a man whose life now revolved around a single source of food. And a single possible source of emotional joy and pain.

He’d narrowed it to two shirts by the time that Kyuhyun had come home to change, and he honestly tried to be subtle about asking for Kyuhyun’s opinion. And he’d been glad for the answer, until Kyuhyun had dropped a bomb on him.

“It got around work today that Ryeowook was going to meet you. So a few more are meeting us for dinner. Hope you don’t mind?”

“No,” he said, faintly. And was suddenly relieved that he wouldn’t sweat all over the shirt. He went with Kyuhyun’s offhand decision, because at that point, honestly? He had bigger problems. Like a tiny hint of stage fright. He just hoped the sun set fully by the time they got there, because he had to leave the apartment covered head to toe as the sun sank past the horizon. Just enough light to still be dangerous.

Zhou Mi debated with himself the entire subway ride over. Even if he was standing beside Kyuhyun he was unsure. Did he speak when they got there? Stay silent? He wanted to know which was going to be best for Kyuhyun. If they were prejudiced against vampires, then there was nothing he could say or do to change that, and no way to help Kyuhyun. That was a battle Kyuhyun had to fight himself. And it wasn’t as though he felt guilty, exactly. Of course Kyuhyun wouldn’t be in the position he was in if it hadn’t been for Zhou Mi, but it wasn’t as though it had been a choice. So his options were slim. Either he hated what he was, and what that did to Kyuhyun’s life, or he did what he could for Kyuhyun. And he chose the latter.

Maybe he was doing too much and trying too hard. But what else was there? Kyuhyun had called him a monster once, out of emotion. But there wasn’t that same fear, or revulsion that he saw in others. The kind that had them edging away from him on the subway, looking him over as though he stank, badly. The kind of looks that he occasionally wanted to counter with by stepping closer, at least until reason got the best of him. It wasn’t exactly a punishable offense, “help, a vampire stood too close,” but he really did not need to have the police looking in on him. And it wasn’t like it was fun scaring people.

He wondered how much he would die inside each time, if Kyuhyun looked at him like that.

Four days, he thought, unable to believe it. Just four days since he’d first seen that face. And Kyuhyun looked at him, when they reached the stop they were getting off at, to make sure Zhou Mi was following him. And he was. Kyuhyun looked good, even if his jacket didn’t fit him quite right, and maybe the pants were just a touch wrong. Some of that Zhou Mi could fix. He could definitely make the pants more flattering. The jacket just needed to be smaller overall. And he really, truly did try and keep his eyes off of Kyuhyun’s butt as he followed Kyuhyun up to street level. It was just hard to do, that was all. And he didn’t think Kyuhyun would’ve called him a terrible person because of it. He was a man, in the end. Though even if Kyuhyun was reluctantly accepting that they had to live together, actually having sex might be something Kyuhyun never would want. And he could preemptively be all “Sex with a human, ew!” but it didn’t hold water. Though it might be easier that way. He was just conditioned to think of the bonding and sex going hand in hand, as any marriage partnership.

The sun was far enough behind buildings, that as they got closer to the front doors of the restaurant that Kyuhyun was leading him to, he felt comfortable enough to shed his gloves, and peel back the protective cloth that covered his face and neck. It took a little tucking but he got it down his shirt enough to not cause him worry.

“Ready?” Kyuhyun asked.

“As I ever will be,” he said, and tried for a smile.

The little gathering was obvious, every eye fixating on him a second after confirming Kyuhyun’s identity. He had to keep himself from reaching up to pat at his hair.

“This is Zhou Mi,” Kyuhyun said. “And these are my coworkers.”

Kyuhyun introduced each of them, starting with Ryeowook. He didn’t bother reaching out a hand, knowing it might be shunned.

Zhou Mi smiled down at the table for a moment. “We thought it would be best if you could meet me. And. Well. Know there isn’t some kind of monster living with Kyuhyun.”

He wasn’t looking at them when he said it, but he was at Kyuhyun. And it wasn’t that he said it to get back at Kyuhyun at all, but the slight softening of Kyuhyun’s eyes had him wanting to lean forward and hug him.

He sat as close to Kyuhyun as was possible, just listening as conversation flowed, and meals were delivered. His stomach grumbled, not because the food smelled good, but because people were eating, and he could smell Kyuhyun. He had his tea, that Kyuhyun had gotten for him like he was just a regular person, and there were questions. Where he lived, how moving had been for Kyuhyun.

“We read up a little on that link you sent out. He has to bite you?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt,” Kyuhyun answered.

That was one of the things that Zhou Mi was glad about. He couldn’t imagine causing Kyuhyun physical pain on top of everything else. Though it made him wish he’d been able to feed before coming to the restaurant. He didn’t think the people curiously talking to Kyuhyun were going to try and turn Kyuhyun against him, but he had no idea. And all the words he could say sort of bottled up inside him.

One of the men wondered, “If he’s the one who needs you, can’t you just stop letting him bite you?”

“Sure. I could just let him die.”

There were some visible flinches at Kyuhyun’s frank words, but not in a way that seemed like shame. More like human decency. Zhou Mi blew out a breath and tried not to shrink in his chair.

“So you guys are married now?”

Kyuhyun’s lips visibly thinned. “Something like that.”

And Kyuhyun looked to him, as though he would be uncomfortable with what was happening. He gave a small smile just for reassurance, and when he glanced up, he realized Kyuhyun’s action had switched the attention from Kyuhyun to him.

“What do you, ah… Do you do anything for a living?” the only woman among them asked.

Besides bite people, he thought, a little uncharitably. He knew the question wasn’t meant quite as it sounded, and was meant to dispel the tension that rose when everyone realized they’d been mostly talking around him, instead of to him.

“I sew clothes,” Zhou Mi said, smiling. “That’s a beautiful watch.”

He tried to be himself, be charming. No one asked them where Zhou Mi bit Kyuhyun, or how much he took, or if Kyuhyun was scared. Kyuhyun’s friend Ryeowook didn’t say much, though he did meet Zhou Mi’s eyes once with a curious, if slightly frightened look. He wanted to assure the man that there was nothing to be afraid of, but he wasn’t sure what he could say. But they didn’t stay long. Everyone had work the next day and things to do, and he could feel the tension creeping up the back of his neck anyway. Kyuhyun would be back to work in the morning, and that was another true test of how things would be. How he was treated, seeing if their little mission worked at all.

The ride back to the apartment was easier on the subway. He hadn’t had to cover his face or hands, so he blended in. Just another man, sitting beside an antsy Kyuhyun. He almost wanted to ask what was on Kyuhyun’s mind, actually opened his mouth to do so, before he caught himself. They weren’t close enough for that, yet. To where he could ask without thinking at all, as though he had a right to do it.

It was irony that it was nighttime that equalled him with humans. The time when humans might have been most afraid made him invisible among them.

They picked up dessert for Kyuhyun on the way to the apartment, the smell lingering in the hallway after them. And it was only then, after they made it in the door and Zhou Mi felt the urge to clean something thoroughly to get out his angst, that Kyuhyun spoke.

“I think it went pretty well,” Kyuhyun said, having stepped out of his shoes and made his way to get a plate for himself. “I mean, I know some of them fairly well? And not like they were going to puke on your shoes or something, but whatever.”

Zhou Mi sighed, sitting opposite Kyuhyun at the table. “I hope it did go okay. I think I was more nervous than they were.”

“People are all stupid in one way or another anyway, but yeah, I was a little nervous too. Not because of anything you could’ve said, though. I wish you wouldn’t have said monster.”

“Well, it’s true for some, isn’t it?” Zhou Mi offered. “And I figured, if I said it, and kind of dismissed it, then they could dismiss it, too.”

“Or introduce it. But yeah. It’s done. At least my boss is pretty supportive. I guess he knew a vampire who was bonded, way back when? So he’s okay. I can get my desk moved if I have to. I guarantee you they wouldn’t want to start doing my job on top of theirs.”

“And it isn’t as though I’ll go to work with you. You’re still the same Kyuhyun they knew. It’ll fade, hopefully. Do you think your friend took it well?”

“I hope so,” Kyuhyun said, frowning at his fork. “He was pretty quiet, but from the way he was acting, at least he didn’t go running away screaming. But yeah, hopefully the job stays good. No offense, but I can’t imagine being stuck in this apartment 24 hours a day.”

He laughed, unable to help himself. Kyuhyun didn’t say _with you_ but it was sort of implied. No, he knew it was good that Kyuhyun had time away. For so many reasons. Kyuhyun peered at his watch and hummed.

“Oh, I have a show coming on soon. Do you mind if I use the TV?”

Ahh, the TV. Kyuhyun’s was sitting in a corner of the spare room. He supposed if they really ended up having disparate tastes they could set that up, too, but he wanted to get to know what Kyuhyun liked as well.

“No. I’ll get your dishes,” he said, making to stand and reach for the plate.

Kyuhyun slid it out of Zhou Mi’s reach, frowning. “You’re not my servant. I’ll get the dish. You can turn on the TV if you want.”

He felt like he’d been chastised by his father, but that didn’t keep him from pouting and walking toward the living room. He liked having someone to do things for. And it wasn’t as though he had been totally alone. There had been friends, and pets. But he had also moved throughout his life. It wasn’t like he’d grown up and planted himself like some kind of lumbering tree. He’d only lived in the place he had currently for seven or eight years. It became uncomfortable to stay much more than ten, because people aged, and he did not. But as a bonded vampire, the more he read in the books, he realized he would begin to age as well. Not fast, but it would be noticeable after a time. It relieved him to some extent that he wouldn’t look like Kyuhyun’s grandson one day.

“What channel did you want?” he asked, as Kyuhyun settled beside him with a glass of water.

It was a historical drama, he realized as it started playing. He curled in on himself, and prepared to watch. There was a little overview of previous happenings, but it helped him orient himself into the action. Kyuhyun didn’t seem too annoyed when he asked the occasional question, jerking on the couch when someone suddenly appeared with a knife. Kyuhyun just chuckled, and set aside his glass.

“Are you hungry? I haven’t read enough books to know how often you need to feed.”

“Once daily is… That’s fairly normal,” Zhou Mi said, not taking his eyes from the screen.

“Normal, okay. But that means there are differences? I don’t know. If you’re hurt? Or you did a lot that day? Or some just do it differently? Three short meals instead of one big one?”

“Preferences, yes,” Zhou Mi agreed, finally looking to him. “I don’t weaken if I feed only once a day. I begin to get hungry, as the day wears on. I don’t know what it feels like for you to be hungry, so I can’t compare it. It’s a want. And feeding fills the empty part of it.”

“So you’re saying you should feed as soon as I get home from work.”

“Not always. I’m not always hungry.”

Kyuhyun glanced at him. “And now?”

“Yes.”

Kyuhyun’s arm flopped toward him, a gesture of great impatience. But when he reached for Kyuhyun’s arm, it was jerked out of his reach.

“Look, we bargained with each other that we’d look into this bond thing. I want you to tell me that if you’re hungry, you’re going to let me know. I hate being hungry. Hate it. And I refuse to feel guilty because you think you’re bothering me. I can’t run after you with my arm in your face.”

The image tickled him. “Then I’ll promise you, Kyuhyun. I’ll do my best.”

And in doing his best, he wriggled onto his side. His head just barely against Kyuhyun’s thigh, bringing Kyuhyun’s arm close. It afforded him the perfect angle to nose against Kyuhyun’s skin, breathing in the scent of his blood and Kyuhyun. Drinking, deep, his eyes closed for a long moment as he felt Kyuhyun shudder against him. Normal, that reaction. But he kept watching Kyuhyun’s historical drama as he ate, the entertainment that much more satisfying from what he could have imagined. And when he was done, he nearly fell asleep. Kyuhyun’s hand and arm clutched against his mouth. Not biting any more, just holding. Breathing. The comfort of breathing against Kyuhyun’s skin almost too much for him.

“Are you done?” he heard loud in his ear, and let go of Kyuhyun’s arm out of shock. He realized that the drama was over, and had been for a little while.

“Oh, yes,” he said, sitting up and smoothing down his hair. He blinked blearily at Kyuhyun, who was smirking.

“I thought you were just going to sleep there all night.”

“I could’ve,” Zhou Mi admitted, unfolding himself into a standing position.

“I guess now I know what a sleeping dog with a bone he’s trying to protect looks like.”

Zhou Mi swatted behind him at Kyuhyun’s teasing, trying to think of some little thing he could do while waiting to sleep. He realized he’d been standing over one of the boxes that Kyuhyun had been going through for several minutes, before realizing he had no ability to go through it himself. And if he tried ironing any more of Kyuhyun’s clothes that night, he’d probably have left scorch marks on delicate fabric. He sighed, and made for the kitchen instead, drawing himself a cup of hot water and brewing tea. He was still dunking his tea bag when Kyuhyun ambled into the kitchen.

“I think I’m done for tonight, too. I just stared at a bunch of papers I was sorting like I was trying to decide between rare books.”

Zhou Mi smiled and offered him a tea bag, which Kyuhyun accepted. “It’s been a long day. A lot was accomplished, though.”

“Yeah.” And after Kyuhyun had his water, he looked up. “Thanks. For everything. Unpacking. Not burying me under the toilet because of all this. Putting up with meeting my coworkers.”

The warmth of the tea sent tingles through him. And Kyuhyun’s words had him sighing. “I’m glad to do what I can for you.”

“But it’s nothing you had to do. So, really, thanks.”

Maybe Kyuhyun didn’t think so, as he turned back to the living room. But he didn’t see Zhou Mi watching him go, or the wistfulness that caused. He wasn’t sure that Kyuhyun had as much reason to be thankful as he thought he did. They were both trying to minimize the troubles on each other. He drowsed in his chair with a book on vampire lore, looking from under his lashes at Kyuhyun, who was stretched out on the couch with his own book. His problem was that he could all too well imagine a hug. Kyuhyun coming to him with a smile, and opening his arms in thanks or affection. The warmth of another body against him after so long, breathing against Kyuhyun’s neck. Not the scent of a meal. The scent of a lover, his blood bonded mate.

***

Kyuhyun slept fairly well, with a slight hint of unease. Going over and over the meeting with Ryeowook and the others, trying to get a sense of how it had gone. He kept trying to meet Ryeowook’s eyes, but Ryeowook had seemed most content to listen. He kind of wished the others had butted themselves right back out, but he didn’t know if meeting with Ryeowook on his own would’ve been better or not. Having more people took the pressure off. Though seriously, he thought, staring at the man curled toward him on the bed. What was there to be scared of? Even if he was tall and semi-sturdy, there were a few stiff breezes that he could think of that’d make a good shot at knocking Zhou Mi over. Maybe he had it easy because he was the one getting bitten and not killed every day. Could Zhou Mi even kill him? Maybe if he drank too much, but Zhou Mi’s antibodies were supposed to allay that. Obviously if Kyuhyun bled out some other way, but Zhou Mi wasn’t hacking at him with a knife.

Still, he’d slept, thinking he could invite Ryeowook over, or meet him out again. Or maybe it had been enough for now, just to see who Zhou Mi was. He’d probably worried himself, before he had gotten caught up in helping Zhou Mi decide what shirt to wear. Like it mattered? But he guessed it did, to Zhou Mi who probably though if he didn’t make a good impression then he’d be letting Kyuhyun down. A martyr. Great.

But he appreciated the thought, anyway.

Of course that didn’t explain why, several times during the work day, he’d gotten distracted thinking of Zhou Mi almost zonking out with his head in Kyuhyun’s lap the night before. No, it wasn’t quite innocent, because there was a fully grown man doing it. And there were those occasional wet, sucking sounds that sent his brain in a totally different, decidedly dirty direction. It didn’t help that Zhou Mi seemed to really relish licking at him while feeding. He could feel that tongue working and brushing his skin. He hadn’t actually gone so far as to smell his wrist afterward, just washing his hands. But he admitted to a slight curiosity. At least in his head. There was no way he was saying that out loud. He wondered too just how good his blood actually tasted to Zhou Mi. Like milkshakes? Pizza?

But at least Ryeowook had said good morning that day, and the next. Actually engaging in conversation without leaning away from him. Still slightly strained, but at least it was something.

The only really awkward moment in his first weeks back was when one of his male coworkers, a guy he didn’t really have much to do with, came up beside him at the copy machine.

“It was interesting meeting Zhou Mi. Kind of wish I’d worked up the courage to ask you out before. So are like you two married-married? He has all the same parts as a human?”

Kyuhyun kept his eyes on the papers that were being spit out with the noxious fumes of ink. It was better than looking up at the man who was currently making rather awkward remarks and questions to him.

“Um. Vampires have kids just like we do, so?”

He realized that didn’t actually answer the guy’s question. But asking someone whether they have sex in the middle of work was a little forward to be answering anyway. Though he was grumpy that it made him wonder for half a second. Zhou Mi _had_ said he was pretty much the same as Kyuhyun, but for those few, rather glaring differences. He figured that extended to whatever was between Zhou Mi’s legs as well. Any extra surprises probably would’ve been disclosed in what he’d read. It wasn’t like Zhou Mi was secretly female, or something.

But that research in Zhou Mi’s books was slow, as best as he could call it. Reading when he wasn’t eating, or gaming. Getting used to Zhou Mi’s quirks. Like the fact that he liked to help, and the fact that he really liked touching Kyuhyun while feeding. If it wasn’t an extra hand on his arm, then Zhou Mi was resting a head on his leg, or something. It wasn’t sexual, and he didn’t let it be, no matter what feelings it brought in him. Who knew, maybe it made Zhou Mi feel better. But things had gotten easier. He didn’t feel like he was going back to an apartment with a total stranger in it, even if the stranger did occasionally sprinkle stray sequins off of his clothing from sewing.

But he had made it to the last day of the workweek. He was both looking forward to, and dreading, the weekend. Two unstructured, unfilled days, with nothing to do but keep getting his crap out of Zhou Mi’s way, and research vampires, and feed the one he was living with. And eating, yeah, that too.

He’d just finished putting his contacts in, blinking at himself in the mirror. Sleep came pretty easy, given he wasn’t used to sharing a bed with someone. But Zhou Mi didn’t snore, and the bed wasn’t small, so he was fine with it. His mom had always told him he could sleep through a train running through the house, anyway. He knew the moment it happened, the mistake he had made. Taking off his shirt to reach for his undershirt. He’d had no reason to close the bathroom door, and he looked up in time to see Zhou Mi frozen in the doorway.

In the mirror, he could see Zhou Mi struggle. Turn away, come back, say something, don’t say something?

He knew what he preferred, and even if he had no desire to talk about his body, he knew they were going to. One day. And it might as well be sooner rather than later.

“The scars,” Zhou Mi said, having made his decision to walk closer. And he knew what Zhou Mi meant. The lines of white and brown, faded, part of him for over a decade. He remembered the crash, with his family. His mother at his head telling him it’d be okay. It had been. It just had taken a while.

“There was an accident,” Kyuhyun told him. “I got hurt. But I’m okay now.”

His skin seemed to twitch as Zhou Mi got closer. He’d always been so cautious, when he’d dated or had sex. Never to let them show. And he hadn’t lasted a week with Zhou Mi before everything was out in the open. But then he’d never lived with anyone before. But the only one he’d ever let touch, purposely, has been his mother. If anything, the memories were more painful for her than for him.

“A very bad accident?”

“Bad enough,” he answered. “Clearly I lived long enough to get tossed in your lap.”

“But—“ Zhou Mi hissed through his teeth. “It hurts me to think of it. I couldn’t ease your pain.”

Zhou Mi’s cheek met the top of his shoulder, grasping Kyuhyun’s waist, and he only half repressed the shiver. He told himself that he wanted to move away, that the touch made him uncomfortable. But Zhou Mi wasn’t making pitying sounds or faces, or trying to touch his back directly. He wondered if he would have protested if Zhou Mi had tried to touch, what it would’ve made it feel. But Zhou Mi just held onto him like doing so erased whatever happened in the past. But it wasn’t like there was anything that could be done.

“You didn’t cause the wounds, so there wasn’t much you could’ve done anyway, right? I don’t like to think about it. It’s over, and I’ll always have those ugly reminders.”

“A testament to your survival,” Zhou Mi declared. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m not upset. You would’ve found out eventually anyway. But hey, I’m alive. You can still bite me.”

“Yes. Seeing that you live a very long and healthy life is in my best interests,” Zhou Mi murmured, his voice tinged with ironic humor.

Kyuhyun laughed, shrugging Zhou Mi off of his shoulders. “Get out of here so I can get ready.”

His last day of work before the weekend. More time in that pile of books to see if they could discover anything that would break what bound them. Zhou Mi sent him out the door with a smile. The stairs he went down were familiar, the door to the apartment coming back to it. His things were familiar. He didn’t feel like there was a stranger living in his body, like his skin didn’t belong. He’d have another scar on his wrist from the knife that had forced their bonding, but when he caught sight of that during the day when his sleeve pulled up, the first thing that came to his mind was a smile.

***


	4. Chapter Six and Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

Zhou Mi's week had been rather satisfying as a whole. He’d gotten Kyuhyun’s dresser in place, got rid of a useless dust-catching table so Kyuhyun’s chair had a place, and evicted all the empty boxes. If he stood in one location and squinted, he almost couldn’t tell that there was still a great state of flux in other areas. It had only taken a week and a half, but the kitchen was half done, but there were some small appliances and tools that he didn’t know what to do with. Kyuhyun had also given him the go-ahead to put away clothes, with a small rundown of where he usually kept stuff. It meant he was able to fill his days, as well as getting to see the actual state of Kyuhyun’s clothing. From work clothes down to his underwear. And the underwear was nice enough. Not new, but no holes big enough to drive his fingers through. He wasted only a very normal amount of time actually imagining Kyuhyun in the underwear, as he folded them and tucked them in the drawer. He didn’t consider it a chore, or that he was somehow becoming Kyuhyun’s spouse. He was just doing what needed to be done so. He was pretty sure Kyuhyun wasn’t ready to get rid of his bedframe and mattress, even if it was just standing against a wall. It was like his last vestige of independence. That he still had a bed if the blood bond could be broken.

Zhou Mi’s hope on that front was a little below believing Santa Claus was real. But it wasn’t like it cost anything to keep the bed around, anyway. He didn’t want to give false hope, but he also didn’t want to be the one who tore dreams down. And being free of Zhou Mi probably comprised of a large part of Kyuhyun’s dreams by then.

Kyuhyun’s work clothes, and just seeing him go out the door, made Zhou Mi kind of hum to himself. He wasn’t going to alter clothes without getting measurements, but he was waiting for a time at which Kyuhyun seemed in a good mood and wouldn’t break his hand for getting close to his crotch with a measuring tape. Even if they just started with a single pair of pants, or taking in one slightly-oversized shirt, Kyuhyun would look a lot more put-together. And then he kind of dreamed of what he’d do if he could make Kyuhyun a pair of pants from the ground up. That still required a few measurements. Using one of the existing pants as a template wasn’t exactly high on his priority list. The next time he went shopping, he decided he’d pick up patterns for men’s suits, and some appropriate suiting material. He could research and find the best cuts. That was way more productive to him than sifting through old books. But he’d made a promise to Kyuhyun, so he figured he’d find a way to do both. Kyuhyun was gone a lot at work, after all.

He had flung himself onto the couch for a nap by the time Kyuhyun trundled in the door. It was raining, he could smell that, and noticed it quite a lot in the way that Kyuhyun’s hair dripped in places. Not too fastidious with the umbrella, clearly.

“Two days of no suits,” Kyuhyun seemed to exult, hanging his outer jacket on one of the pegs. “I’ll just change and eat if there’s nothing you have planned?”

“No, nothing. Go ahead,” Zhou Mi said, peering at him curiously from over the back of the couch.

He managed to get upright by the time Kyuhyun had changed, and when his offer of help was politely turned down, he took a seat at the table. If they could do nothing else, they could keep talking, keep getting to know each other. As long as it didn’t seem to be straining them, he figured it had to be making them stronger. He waited a little while, for Kyuhyun to get a few bites in and get settled.

“So you think this week went okay at work, overall?”

Kyuhyun hadn’t told him of any major issues in the last week, or this one, but if he was holding back something, it wasn’t like Zhou Mi could magically see it. But as much as he could tell, as much as he could hope, it had probably went okay.

“Yeah, it was okay. Just a couple weird moments. Like the other day when I got asked if all your boy parts are the same as anyone else’s. He actually hinted he had been interesting in dating me. That was definitely weird, because he’d never—”

“What?” Zhou Mi asked, on his feet before he really knew what he was doing. One of those men had been interested in Kyuhyun? That he’d spoken to, talked to?

Kyuhyun blinked at him. “What, what?”

“Who does that kind of thing? Who propositions someone—“

“Whoa,” Kyuhyun said, laughing. “It’s not like he tackled me and offered sex.”

“I know, but— There’s more than just a flimsy engagement between us. He shouldn’t even have been speaking to you that way.”

“What, you’re jealous?” Kyuhyun asked, and the sound of the surprise in that one question had his sanity breaking.

“You aren’t his to take! You—“

“I’m not yours!” Kyuhyun argued. “You don’t own me. As long as I keep feeding you, so what if I sleep with a hundred guys? You don’t—“

The biting pain behind Zhou Mi’s eyes had his hands balling, covering his face in horror. He hadn’t had a headache shoot through him like that since his father had died. The price of letting his emotions overtake him. He felt his balance give, and heard Kyuhyun ask him hollowly if he was okay.

“Sorry,” he choked, wheeling around, walking nearly blind. Feeling his way with only a few stumbles to their bed. The agony of the headache was almost overwhelming, like his temples were being crushed. He moaned into the blanket, and tried to will it away.

He didn’t even know how long he lay there before he felt a touch on his arm.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Headache, sorry.”

Kyuhyun made a soft sound. “I didn’t know vampires could get headaches.”

“When I let my feelings overwhelm me. I just need to calm down.”

He breathed, and squirmed away from Kyuhyun’s touch.

“Will feeding help it? Zhou Mi?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“Try.”

Kyuhyun was nearly hugging him from the side, to get his arm against Zhou Mi’s mouth. And it took several moments through the pain, to even figure out how to loose his teeth. He didn’t think the blood did anything for the pain, but it did soothe something in him. Something maybe that was driving it.

“Thank you,” he whispered after a bare minute. “That’s a little better.”

And nearly whimpered when Kyuhyun’s body heat left him. But the light turned off, plunging them into the half-light from outside the bedroom window. And Kyuhyun nudged him over further.

“My mom used to do this for me when I got really stressed out about school,” Kyuhyun said softly.

And Kyuhyun’s hands began to knead at Zhou Mi’s shoulders. Thumbs working knots, rubbing down the back of his neck. Maybe it was the hypnotic movement of Kyuhyun’s hands, or the effects of it. Or maybe it was the contact. The heat of Kyuhyun was like a furnace. The bond, perhaps, enhanced it. To be missing contact, to remember again how bad it had been to lose it. To know again how good it was. If Kyuhyun’s hope was right, and he had to think of it almost in the abstract to keep the pain away, how did he live alone again?

“Don’t want to be alone,” he chattered through trembling lips, barely aware that he’d said it out loud.

“I could use a nap,” Kyuhyun said. “I’ll stay here a while. Get some rest.”

It was good, that Kyuhyun had misunderstood. But his words were telling, too. Naps were fleeting, short. They inevitably came to an end. Just as it was possible their time together would.

***

He came out of sleep with a start, nearly rolling before he felt a hand on his back.

“Hey, you’re going to push me off the bed.”

With his neck twisted, he could see that Kyuhyun was still behind him. The bedside lamp was on, Kyuhyun reading as he sat next to Zhou Mi.

“You feeling any better?” Kyuhyun asked him.

“The ache is mostly gone,” Zhou Mi said. “Thanks.”

“Headaches aren’t any fun. I didn’t know it was going to tweak you like that.”

He laughed, with some care. “Believe me, I didn’t either.”

“I’m not, you know. Not going to go try and start dating or something. Maybe the registration is a formality, but unless you’re into kinky threesomes or something, we just need to work through this together.”

“Definitely not into that,” he said, smiling into the blanket. The idea of sharing wasn’t one he’d figured out yet when it came to Kyuhyun, clearly.

“Shower, then, and get some extra sleep.”

He felt unsteady, standing, but finally got himself back together. The hot water felt like it revived him, washing some of the nasty feelings away. Having another small reassurance of Kyuhyun’s fidelity, he repeated those words to himself. That dedication he returned. He had not been in bed long before he heard Kyuhyun start to get ready to sleep as well. And he slept, knowing Kyuhyun was not far away.

****

Zhou Mi tried not to call Eunhyuk often. Occasionally, there were little things that spurred him to it. Hopes and fears. Kyuhyun moving in. The aftermath of meeting Kyuhyun’s coworkers. Those were the big things he had called Eunhyuk after. At first, mostly to let Eunhyuk know he was okay. But also for advice. What little advice they had between them, anyway. There wasn’t any way either of them knew of to help a man accept his new life status. Besides Zhou Mi being patient and understanding, and hoping that Kyuhyun would like who he was. Eunhyuk was almost disgusted by Zhou Mi’s attitude, like the onus was all on him. But Zhou Mi knew that wasn’t true. But no matter how stressful it was occasionally, and how much worry Zhou Mi put into it, there were things to be glad about. Kyuhyun wasn’t storming around the apartment screaming at him, or even being sullen. They’d moved a little beyond a simple true of trying to get along, and Zhou Mi was glad of it.

But Eunhyuk’s immediate reaction on hearing Zhou Mi’s voice was that something was _wrong_. And inside, it kind of still felt that way.

“Kyuhyun was telling me about a man at work. I guess this guy had been interested in him, but never asked.”

“And Kyuhyun told you about that?” Eunhyuk asked, sounding surprised.

“I don’t think he meant it cruelly. I think it was awkward for him, too. But it just got to me. One of those headaches. That there’s someone there who wants to flirt with Kyuhyun. Just having that option out there, maybe it makes me seem even worse to him. I feel like I shouldn’t be so possessive, but I can’t help it.”

“He’s your only source of food. It’s obvious you wouldn’t want him spread around. The bond is supposed to be deeper than that.”

“I know,” Zhou Mi said.

“Then you’re attracted to him.”

“I don’t—“ Zhou Mi hesitated. “Maybe.”

“Zhou Mi. You’ve been living together for almost two weeks. You should probably know that.”

“Of course I do. And I am. He’s very attractive to me, and not just because I can smell myself in him. His eyes are— You don’t need to hear this.”

“Just don’t let your attraction to his eyes make you let him treat you like crap,” Eunhyuk told him, his voice fierce in Zhou Mi’s defense. “It doesn’t matter how cute he is, or how guilty you feel. You don’t deserve to have him throw guys in your face and beat you down inside.”

His impression was that Eunhyuk’s opinion of Kyuhyun was a little lower than what it could be. Considering when he got desperate and called, sometimes he was in despair, or just telling about the ways they agreed to get along. And not saying as much about the little things, like the way Kyuhyun hounded after him to eat, and the way Kyuhyun kicked his thigh while they watched TV to get him to pay attention to a particularly intense scene. Or the way that Kyuhyun was more comfortable around him, and sometimes how a simple smile lit Zhou Mi up inside. He told himself he would talk more about those things, and less about the ones that upset him. Because those were less, even as he tried carefully not to let his expectations rise. They’d come so far, but Zhou Mi had no idea how far they had left to go. Or how far Kyuhyun would want them to.

***

Kyuhyun spent the next morning reading, and listening to Zhou Mi putter while a CD wailed. He still felt vaguely guilty for the day before. He’d had enough tension headaches to know what they felt like, but Zhou Mi had woken and waved off his question on how he felt. It was a little disquieting to think that Zhou Mi took things between them so seriously. Like they really had said vows of some kind. Only in blood instead of words. But he hadn’t lied. He’d made his promises, too just as Zhou Mi had.

He knew, hearing movement, that Zhou Mi was taking care of his own clothes, or he’d have felt like a sloth just sitting around. At least happy to sit until his stomach complained, and he realize that he didn’t have anything he wanted to eat. He kind of left the fact that he was going out open ended, but Zhou Mi didn’t make any sort of noises that he wanted to go. It was no skin off of Kyuhyun’s back, and he juggled his keys and cell phone and went out to decide what he wanted. But eating out, that he didn’t really feel like doing. It took him longer than usual, wandering and thinking. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think about everything. And every time he tried, he just got more confused. But at least he eventually decided what he wanted to eat. He unlocked the door, his dinner in one hand, and ready to call out that he was home. Or, he would’ve, but he’d looked up as he stepped inside and realized a rather important fact.

There was a naked man in the middle of the apartment.

And not just any naked man - a naked _Zhou Mi_.

And okay, he wasn’t totally naked. He was wearing a pair of underwear, and was holding a shirt with the clear intention of putting it on. But that didn’t keep Kyuhyun’s eyes from roaming from Zhou Mi’s feet, up his legs, waist, shoulders.

“Holy fuck,” he barked, sagging back against the closed door.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Zhou Mi demanded, dropping the shirt he was holding in favor of racing up to Kyuhyun and reaching for him. “Did something happen?”

“No. No, I’m fine,” he answered when he got his brain cells back from the flashing thighs. Mostly. “Why are you naked? And what genetic lottery did you win?”

Zhou Mi frowned, finally seeming to note that Kyuhyun’s eyes had certainly not been on his face. Great move on Kyuhyun’s part, that one.

“My body? Kyuhyun— Here I think you’ve gotten mugged or harassed, and you’re talking about me?”

“Do all vampires look like you?”

“I don’t know. There isn’t some kind of vampire convention. I don’t think so, though. Our human mothers would have a varied gene pool. You think I’m hot?”

“So would the sun,” Kyuhyun said, still a little nonplussed by all the naked skin in his face. “Go— Go get clothes on. You’re distracting.”

Zhou Mi laughed. “You’re so cute.”

“Get,” he said, swatting at Zhou Mi. And watching that trim little butt move in his underwear as Zhou Mi wandered back to grab his abandoned shirt. And made sure to look very, very busy when Zhou Mi looked back to check if he was watching.

It had turned out that Zhou Mi had showered, and not thinking Kyuhyun would be home so soon, had wandered out to take his pick from the warm clothes he’d been drying.

“Good thing none of the windows face into someone else’s,” Kyuhyun joked.

“I didn’t come out totally naked,” Zhou Mi retorted.

He, for all Kyuhyun’s imagination cared, might as well have been. It wasn’t like a man’s body was a mystery. He wasn’t caught off guard by the fact that Zhou Mi had two arms, two legs, and a dick. He hadn’t been all keyed up to get distracted by a river of naked skin, was the problem. At least he’d had something to distract himself, in his meal. And Zhou Mi had been a little, slightly, apologetic about it anyway. He could just put it out of his head. And maybe be a little envious of those thighs, but no. Really, just setting it aside. He’d really think of something good to fantasize about in the shower, something very not Zhou Mi, and just get it out of his system.

***

They were in bed by the time that Zhou Mi pressed him to feed, and his arm went out automatically. As the week had gone on, he hadn’t really realized that there were a few extra sensations going on. The continuing newness of having a mouth biting him or something. And he was pretty sure it wasn’t just because he’d seen Zhou Mi mostly naked. Not that he’d been thinking about that. At all. But that night, it seemed different, because the warmth and tingles from the bite weren’t just in innocuous places like his shins or elbows. There was a definite flush that had his thighs moving of their own volition, gritting his teeth as he felt a stir. And it didn’t really surprise him, because it felt like someone was breathing on his crotch. Resisting that kind of stimulation was kind of hard for any man. He focused on breathing slowly, focusing on anything but Zhou Mi’s butt or his underwear, or his face, of the fact that he was right now biting Kyuhyun. He tried to focus on nice things, like hang nails, and splinters, and getting F’s on tests.

And not focusing on Zhou Mi murmuring and adjusting the wet of his mouth on Kyuhyun’s arm. He’d actually almost cowed himself into thinking of something else, and then he was raising his knees in case he couldn’t get back to his happy place. Ice cubes. Things with razor sharp teeth. Snapping near his balls. That worked. Mostly. That and the fact that Zhou Mi finished, licking his arm for several seconds before wiping it clean.

“How was the feast?” Kyuhyun joked.

“Very good.”

He tried to relax as Zhou Mi finished getting settled, happy to have his body back under his control. Still, Zhou Mi’s next words had him jolting.

“So you think I’m attractive?” Zhou Mi asked, as he turned off the light and scooted into bed beside Kyuhyun. “I do like that pair of underwear.”

Attractive. Not because Kyuhyun had been almost getting turned on but because of his stupid words. He closed his eyes and groaned. “Are you going to let that go? I was surprised by all the nudity, okay?”

“I know, and I appreciate that. But you thought I had good genes? If you thought I was hot, then you might be sexually attracted to me, which is _good_ because if we’re bonded, then—“

“What?” he squawked.

“You have had sex?” Zhou Mi asked him, huffing far too near to the back of his neck.

“What? Yes. Obviously, of course I have.”

“Well, then someday… Hmm.”

He didn’t like the sound of that sound Zhou Mi made, but a thought occurred to him.

“You’ve had sex?” he asked Zhou Mi, and got a long pause for his question.

“Yes, a couple of times, but it wasn’t meaningful.”

Curiosity. Cats. Whatever. “You’re just going to leave it like that? What do you mean, meaningful? One night stands?”

Zhou Mi’s voice was so soft, he almost had to straighten to hear it. “No. I went to a high school with humans my last year, when they ordered that vampire children be allowed. And you know how it is with humans sometimes. I was a freak, some kind of monster, so I ranked pretty high on the conquest scale. The first time was me being led on, but the second time— I was more wary, because I heard the rumor that others were going to try and sleep with me. So I dated someone, and it led to sex, and— It was just a ruse, too.”

Kyuhyun cursed under his breath at the ignorant children who had abused Zhou Mi’s trust. “Were they girls, guys?”

“One of each,” Zhou Mi admitted. “I guess that’s why I got fooled.”

“You’re not a freak, or a monster. You’re just a guy.”

Zhou Mi’s hand was warm on his waist, a sort of knowing that Zhou Mi was touching him, and near. And the warmth intensified, as Zhou Mi seemed to lean closer to his back.

“Thank you, Kyuhyun. That means so much to me, to hear it from you.”

“Well you have to hear it from someone. So go to sleep before the hotness burns or something.”

Zhou Mi seemed to giggle softly to himself, squeezing Kyuhyun’s side before taking back his hand. But he didn’t move, radiating warmth at Kyuhyun’s back in a way that made him want to turn, and bask in it. And maybe there was the tiny question of him wondering if Zhou Mi found _him_ hot. Which totally had no bearing on anything. He was just curious, that was all.

Just curious.

***

Kitchen, done. Bedroom, no small thanks to Zhou Mi and his clothes hanging, done. Books, done. Shelves for all his miscellaneous paperwork and crap, done. The apartment looked more full, but he could still see the very definite traces of Zhou Mi around in the decorations and artifacts. It wasn’t like he’d wanted to erase that.

Sunday had been the day for hauling off everything he hadn’t needed, things too bulky to keep around in duplicate. Things that he wouldn’t have trouble replacing if he ended up living on his own again. When, he tried to correct himself. When. Donating most everything, trashing what was too old to be of use. Nothing truly valuable, anyway. And Zhou Mi, in his special outfit, had helped. The looks they had gotten, especially from some older people, had made him want to say something incredibly unkind. Zhou Mi had just kept his chin up, sunglasses on. And he had to have seen it, too. But he lasted, getting his lunch and eating, and retreating to another of the books.

It was interesting to note as he read, that it had not been much more than a century since vampires had been officially recognized. Feared, reviled, discriminated against. Some of the older texts, even if they were describing vampires medically, described them in such sub-human ways. _Creature._ _Abomination._ Like some demon had just stepped right up and chosen to spawn a few inconveniences on humanity. If Zhou Mi had been born back then, and deposited at a hospital, there was a good chance he’d have ended up as a research specimen, or “accidentally” dead. Apparently “putting down” younger vampires wasn’t quite as difficult as after they got their teeth.

“Reading this is disgusting,” he said, getting Zhou Mi to look up. “It’s like they’re examining something worse than a dog.”

“It’s something they didn’t understand,” Zhou Mi said. “And it’s changed.”

“Sort of. But they understood it enough to know that almost everything about vampires was basically the same as humans.”

“Even more reason to fear it, don’t you think? If vampires had say, looked like water buffalo, wouldn’t that have just been an interesting new species?”

“Water…” He burst out laughing, imagining Zhou Mi with a pair of horns. “There’s just not a lot of logic to the response.”

“Who said people are logical?” Zhou Mi asked, shrugging. “I can only be what I can be. I can’t teach them to like me. But I could have it a lot worse.”

“Worse than people guaranteeing you’re going to die?”

Zhou Mi’s lips curved, but it was not a smile. “Yes, worse than that. Don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m doing fine getting in worry where it’s called for. Like making sure I have clothes for tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Zhou Mi got to his feet as though he’d just said something exciting. “You have this pair of pants that you wear. They look about a size or two too big?”

He knew exactly what pair of pants Zhou Mi was talking about. A mis-read of a label or a fat day, he wasn’t sure which. There was comfortable, and then there was a sack. He’d just never taken the time or expense to get them tailored. Which probably he should’ve cared more, but really? Who cared. Besides Zhou Mi.

“Would you let me alter them for you? Or would you like me to, I guess. I can take them in a little so they don’t look like you borrowed them from, well. Someone else.”

“Sure?” That was what Zhou Mi did after all, right? And short of making them too small for Kyuhyun to get into, he wasn’t sure what Zhou Mi could do to make them look worse. And then if so, they’d have new rags or something.

Zhou Mi buzzed off muttering to himself, and Kyuhyun listened as loud rustles emanated from the spare room. Zhou Mi emerged with what looked like a notepad, a pen, and a long cloth tape measure.

“Could you stand up for a minute?” Zhou Mi asked, encouraging him up with a gesture. “I just need some measurements.”

The waist and hip measurements were fine, really. Zhou Mi was quick, efficient. Scribbling down numbers that he didn’t really want to look at, and humming to himself.

“I have to measure your inseam, so. Um.” Zhou Mi made a gesture at his crotch, kneeling, and Kyuhyun gave a go-ahead nod. What could he do? Say no? But he had to swallow an uncomfortable giggle as Zhou Mi’s hand brushed the inside of his thigh. Doing nothing inappropriate obviously, even given that, well. His hands were right there. The measuring tape being smoothed down his leg.

“You’re pretty tall, actually— Ahh!“

Zhou Mi’s shriek was almost louder than the scream of shattering glass. His hands went up instinctively, Zhou Mi’s weight against his legs collapsing him back onto the couch. Unsure of where the sound had come from at first before he realized it had been the window. And Zhou Mi was gone, scrambling from the room, with a string of half-shouted denials. The urge to flee or defend left him with an unsettling shake in his hands, and he nearly stepped forward without thinking about it. Walking cautiously to the door, to find shoes. The living room window’s top pane, with no screen to protect it, had shattered, sending glass through the room. His first thought was a bird. Or maybe a kid throwing something? But they were two floors up. It was when he saw the brick that he thought of the fire escape.

Two words were scrawled on it. _Die vampire._

And into the room, spilled lots of very natural, unfiltered sunlight. Right at where he and Zhou Mi had been. He had no idea what was going to filter out the sun, he just knew he needed to try. A double thickness garbage bag and masking tape were his makeshift solution. He couldn’t go to Zhou Mi without blocking at least most of it out. The room was significantly darkened by his haphazard taping, but he knew the bags weren’t going anywhere. And closing the bedroom door behind him, he searched for Zhou Mi. Not in the bed, or under it, or in the bathroom. The closet. He tapped the door of it lightly.

“Zhou Mi? Are you okay? Can I open the door? Everything’s closed up.”

“Yeah,” he heard, and he slid the door back.

“You’re okay?”

“I got scalded a bit,” Zhou Mi admitted, his face in shadows. “But I got away pretty fast, so it’s not bad.”

“You need an apartment in a basement.”

“No! The sun—“ Zhou Mi protested.

Was worth the risk, Kyuhyun assumed. It was bad enough to be sensitive, but to be denied it entirely? Zhou Mi reached for him, and he wasn’t sure what to do. Staying still as Zhou Mi grasped his sides.

Kyuhyun stared up at the hanging clothes. “Is your protective gear in here?”

“The bathroom.”

“Okay. I’ll get it, and you can help me figure out who we’re supposed to call to get a new window. I’ll clean up the mess, and you can hang out in a corner somewhere.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Zhou Mi said, his hands still tight on Kyuhyun’s waist.

“Since you were hurt, er. Do you need to feed?”

The swallow was audible, the intake of breath.

“Please.”

He moved slightly to the side, Zhou Mi not letting him go. Banding him with one arm, even as Kyuhyun lifted his own arm to give Zhou Mi access. The sensations by then were not new, the flushing warmth, tingling skin. He focused on Zhou Mi’s hand holding his arm, barely able to make out pale fingers against his skin. Better to focus on that, and not the way that Zhou Mi was petting his waist like some kind of nursing kitten. Maybe Zhou Mi needed the blood, or maybe he just needed the comfort. Either one, it was not a long feed, Zhou Mi sighing and letting his arm go, all but sagging into him.

“Thank you,” Zhou Mi told him. “I’m better.”

It was odd, he noticed, that the tingles from the feed hadn’t stopped. But as Zhou Mi breathed against his neck, he realized they were a different kind entirely.

***

 

 

***

To say Kyuhyun was pissed was a little bit of an understatement. After he’d retrieved the fine reflective cloth for Zhou Mi to put on, he actually surveyed the damage. Glass flying to where they’d been standing. Hell, they could’ve been hit by the brick. When Zhou Mi emerged, he was covered, though the only real noticeable places were his hands, in gloves, and his head. Even if it was sheer, it was noticeable over his face, and Kyuhyun forced himself to look away.

“So what do we do with this.”

“We can get it clean. I don’t know if we can get it replaced today, but we might be able to get ahold of someone to get an order in,” Zhou Mi said.

Kyuhyun flipped through their phone book just in case, as Zhou Mi called the landlord. Apparently the windows had been pre-installed, so Zhou Mi didn’t even have a number. But the landlord would have.

“Yes, as soon as possible would be great. Tomorrow morning would be fine, but I wanted to let you know.”

That, and the police report. Though the police were about as much help as they had been on the kidnapping, taking a few pictures and taking statements, and being on their way.

So it was Kyuhyun, with a broom and a dust pan and a garbage bag, who stared down the scattered glass.

“Let’s get this up before it shreds one of us. Or, me, I guess.

“I can’t be cut by the glass, so let me do it,” Zhou Mi said, reaching for the hand that held the broom.

“I’m not worried about you being cut. But your gloves aren’t impervious to it, or that cloth you have to wear. How much does that cost to replace, anyway?”

“We’re supplied it free of cost,” Zhou Mi told him. “I have no less than three suits kept exactly like this. I’d rather shred a host of gloves than see you get hurt. Let me do this.”

The material of the glove was soft, clutching his, and Zhou Mi’s eyes oddly intense, even through the cloth covering his face. Though he wanted to sweep that cloth back and reveal the fall of Zhou Mi’s perpetually shiny hair, and actually see the emotion cross that face.

He tugged his hand free of Zhou Mi’s with a silent curse at his stupid thoughts. “I’ll go be useless somewhere else then.”

“No,” Zhou Mi laughed. “You can hold the bag for me? Please?”

And with Kyuhyun’s hands and arms moderately shielded, he did. Holding the bag as Zhou Mi swept and lifted and dumped glass into it. Going through the couch with a vacuum, the floors and corners. Again, not that Zhou Mi could be hurt, but stepping on a shard could be pretty painful for Kyuhyun. Zhou Mi didn’t end up destroying his gloves after all. Though the black-festooned window, even with the half-window and inside light still gave a sort of pall to the room.

“You did a good job closing it up,” Zhou Mi remarked. “Was that a whole roll of tape?”

He just elbowed Zhou Mi and scanned the floor, in case they’d missed something. Luckily their desks or TV weren’t right in front of it, or it would’ve been a real mess. The image of his smashed laptop because of a brick made him shudder a little bit inside.

“You don’t need me to stay or anything for the window replacement?”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “The building manager will take care of the voucher, and will probably oversee the installation. I’ll make sure he looks at the fire escape as well. So you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll just be wearing less when you get home.”

Considering he had seen Zhou Mi in nothing but his underwear, how much less was less? But he didn’t speak it. Just sitting, contemplating who would throw a brick through someone’s window. And letting the anger sink through him.

But that night, when he was in his pajamas and still internally grousing when he caught sight of the plastic, he was caught off guard. Joking to Zhou Mi about who’d left their socks in the middle of the floor that time, and suddenly encompassed by long arms.

“Sorry,” Zhou Mi said, uncomfortably close to his ear. “But I have to thank you. Really. For everything. If there is nothing else you want from me, I hope you will be my— My friend.”

Maybe they were bonded by blood. Maybe circumstance had forced them together. Maybe there were things about Zhou Mi that he didn’t want to think about, and things he figured he needed to keep to himself. Maybe it wasn’t going to last forever. But none of his arguments allowed him to think that it would be a bad idea to become this man’s friend.

“We already are,” Kyuhyun confirmed.

And got a sigh, and those tingles again. He really, really had to keep Zhou Mi away from his neck. When he came home the next day, there was a new window, and Zhou Mi smiling at him over the back of the couch.

***

Kyuhyun’s clothes, with Zhou Mi having his measurements and permission, were slowly being transformed. It wasn’t like they were magically nicer, but even he could tell they fit better. And fitting better didn’t even mean his circulation was being cut off. Because clearly his legs and thighs were not Zhou Mi’s. Not that he thought about those usually except in the abstract. He tried to keep actual study of those things to a proximity-awareness, and nothing more than that. He wasn’t sure if fantasizing about random guys he saw day to day was more or less sane than just giving in and wondering about Zhou Mi’s collarbones.

But whatever it meant, it still got him better-looking clothes over the course of the first few weeks. And maybe Zhou Mi got something out of it too, like thinking people who connected Zhou Mi to him wouldn’t be thinking he’d been tied to a guy who didn’t know how to dress. Or something. Satisfaction from his handwork, maybe. Of course, if that was how Zhou Mi earned cash? And he was using his time on Kyuhyun’s things? After the first pair of pants, after a few days since he was smart and couldn’t come up with ideas quickly, he had offered to pay Zhou Mi for it. And the look that had crossed Zhou Mi’s face? Horrified didn’t even begin to cover it.

“I take from you,” Zhou Mi had told him, his face a mask of seriousness that would have put any high school principal to shame. “Please let me do this for you.”

It had put Kyuhyun at a little bit of a loss, too. Because he didn’t exactly want Zhou Mi to feel _indebted_ to him. Sure, Zhou Mi was taking his blood. But he was also housing Kyuhyun - for free - and putting up with his presence. Saying it like Kyuhyun expected more from him was almost beyond his ability to reason. And he was sure his voice sounded as nonplussed as he was.

“I don’t expect it. You don’t have to do that for me.”

Zhou Mi had smiled. “I know. I appreciate that, Kyuhyun. And I don’t feel like I’m really paying you back. It’s just something that I can do, that I like to do. It’s been a long time since I had someone to do things for. You do a lot for me, too.”

“I don’t know what,” he muttered.

“Just being here.”

Discussing what to watch on TV. Debating, really. Once they’d figured out that no one was going to explode or go storming off. And after a few nights of subtle, if friendly, sniping, Zhou Mi had drawn up a chart. How many times there were conflicting times, and evening those between them. And then figuring out which could be easily watched online. Compromises. It wasn’t like he’d been living so long alone that he didn’t remember what it was like to have to give a little. And truthfully, it was probably good for him. Zhou Mi was, most of the time, accommodating, but that fashion runway show? He’d have needed a stampeding elephant to get that remote out of Zhou Mi’s fist. Or maybe even more, who knew.

***

Zhou Mi wasn’t sure who, between the two of them, had to adjust the most to having another person around. Zhou Mi had certainly lived on his own the longest, but he also had an appreciation for having another person around in his space. It was less quiet, less cold. Maybe there were little things he sort of rolled his eyes at, like Kyuhyun’s scattered dirty socks, or the dirty dishes that went ignored. But that was hardly a deal-breaker. He’d tried to get Kyuhyun to tell him if anything bothered him, but when Kyuhyun had his face in his laptop, it was a little hard to get anything out of him but a stare. That and sheepishness, when Zhou Mi shoved a plate of cut-up fruit at him. He was getting a little better at the knife wielding. Maybe he’d looked up videos on the internet, but he wasn’t going to tell Kyuhyun that.

It had become almost surprisingly - normal. Kyuhyun didn’t carry a book around with him every moment he was home, but Zhou Mi knew not to take that as some kind of assurance that Kyuhyun accepted the blood bond. It just meant that Kyuhyun had gotten beyond the basic books, and into the dry, and sometimes fantastical ones. And the other problem was that Zhou Mi’s collection was by no means complete. His job was finding a collector who would let them see one of the rare books that Zhou Mi could not hope to afford, or even someone who fancied themselves an expert. There were no “vampire doctors” but there were people who studied, both the lore and fact. But this one was out of the country, and that one wasn’t accepting appointments. All he had to his credit was patience, and the tiny twinge in his heart when he made lists to check back around with someone’s secretary. In a month or two. Kind of twofold, because in a month or two they might find something that would let Kyuhyun leave unhindered. And in a month or two they might not. He wondered if Kyuhyun would be disgusted if he knew that Zhou Mi’s hope was torn. He wanted Kyuhyun to be happy, he did. But was it so bad to harbor the tiniest hope that they could be happy together?

It was, more or less, like living with a friend. If friends slept in the same bed, or had a drinking blood arrangement. What did Kyuhyun want from a relationship? Any relationship? Sex? Companionship? Zhou Mi felt like he’d gotten out of the initial eggshell zone. Where he thought any wrong move he made was going to result in, well. Certain death for him. Certain discomfort for Kyuhyun. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun was a psychopath demanding things or else, which comforted him. Kyuhyun was patient with his alteration of Kyuhyun’s wardrobe, and at the barest level, accepting of most everything else. The one thing that he was supposed to guard well was his heart. But that was like a lot of other things in his life that he didn’t have a lot of control over. He couldn’t stop himself from being hungry, and he couldn’t stop himself from seeing Kyuhyun as some kind of salvation. It was easy, far too easy, to understand why his ancestors had tied themselves to humans. It was belonging, and it was more.

He hoarded stories over the days, to tell Kyuhyun when he got off from work. To see those eyes light up in humor, or have Kyuhyun’s mouth twist before the dam broke into full-out laughter. Just to lean against the counter some nights and watch or help Kyuhyun get his dinner ready was fulfilling. Kyuhyun talking about his day, usually with some biting comment that had Zhou Mi in stitches imagining it.

He’d only ever once asked about the man that Kyuhyun had said had hit on him. Kyuhyun had dismissed it, saying he hadn’t heard anything else out of the guy. It calmed Zhou Mi’s nerves on the subject a little, but he couldn’t help the worry.

“I’m starving!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, all but bursting out of their bedroom in his casual clothes. A soft green shirt that Zhou Mi perpetually wanted to pet. And did, when he was washing it. Kyuhyun never knew. “I want to eat out tonight, I think. There’s this restaurant that I really love. The beef is so amazing, seriously. It like melts off the pan, kind of crispy in places. Should try the—“

Kyuhyun seemed to pause, as though he realized that Zhou Mi did not have any interest in the food itself. Even after all the time they spent together, when every other person ate, he assumed it would be hard to remember all the time. Though he knew Kyuhyun had gotten carried away, not really speaking of Zhou Mi, but more of anyone who ate. But watching Kyuhyun enthuse about it was something he would not have traded.

“Don’t worry. At least I can watch you enjoy it,” he teased gently. Though it was quite a bit the truth.

“I don’t understand how you can be okay with just sitting when other people are eating.”

What difference was it, really, Zhou Mi wondered. Not everyone in the world ate the same as everyone else. Someone might get dessert while another person abstained, or getting a snack while others weren’t ready. It wasn’t like he looked at Kyuhyun and pictured him as a nice meaty bowl of soup, so it was just enjoying someone’s company during an activity he didn’t take part in - kind of like when Kyuhyun gamed, really.

“It’s not that bad,” he said, answering Kyuhyun’s comment. “Mealtimes can be really social, but if I have tea, and there is discussion, then I am fine. I’m happy you would want me there.”

“Well.” Kyuhyun paused. “It’s just awkward to leave you here and go out and eat. And it’s not like I care what anyone else thinks.”

He smiled at Kyuhyun and warmed his hands on his cup. It was true to a point, he figured, that Kyuhyun didn’t care what people thought. Only to a point. No one was impervious. And it was worse than Zhou Mi having some kind of deformity. He was completely normal, and he was completely not at the same time. Was he normal enough that would he have been wanted had Kyuhyun met him on the street? It was one thing to be friends, and another to contemplate something as involved as sex. Or even kissing.

A group of three couples clattered in, and Kyuhyun looked rather bemused as the room got even louder.

“People who are dating can be so annoying,” Kyuhyun lamented.

Zhou Mi laughed, not at Kyuhyun, but at the sentiment. “I wouldn’t know that very well.”

“Do you— Have you dated? Much?”

Zhou Mi’s fingers curled tight. “No. After that year of high school, I was wary. Most everyone I have known has been just a friend. There is still the occasional person that approaches me on the street, who thinks I’m kind of cool and weird, but those are easy to spot.

“So wait, you were telling me about high school a few weeks ago. So you were what, 18? You haven’t had sex in 30 years?”

“Shh! It’d only be…28.”

“Oh, practically yesterday then. Wow.”

Obviously it wouldn’t have been that long ago for Kyuhyun. His lips pursed, trying not to let the mental images of Kyuhyun pinning someone to a bed, sucking someone off, get the better of him. Obviously, since they’d washed over him anyway? It was a little futile to try and stop the train after it had left. At least he knew that for Kyuhyun it had been more than 30 days, unless Kyuhyun was truly more sneaky than he could imagine.

“Do you miss dating?” he asked Kyuhyun, almost wondering if he wanted to know. If there was some heartache in Kyuhyun’s past that would make Zhou Mi want to protect him. Or some person that Kyuhyun wanted but couldn’t have - because of Zhou Mi?

“I was never very good at it, actually. Even if the sex was decent, I think I picked a lot of— questionable people, anyway. It’s hard to stay interested when the guy looking back at you looks nice but is as engaging as a limp noodle.”

Limp noodle imagery brought up all other kinds of mental pictures.

“Were they not interested in you, or…?”

“Sure, they were interested in how regularly they could get laid.” Kyuhyun laughed, shaking his head. “Or maybe if they wanted to watch their sports games, or whatever. But I dated the opposite, too, the ones who wanted every second of my attention. Talking to me if the TV was on, or if I was on the phone, like they were little three year-olds looking for attention.”

“Sounds like you dated a lot of immature guys.”

“Exactly. Immature. Or maybe devoid of maturity, I don’t know. I didn’t realize that finding someone mostly normal was so hard.”

Normal. He knew Kyuhyun didn’t mean anything by the word, but it still sent Zhou Mi’s engagement in the hypothetical conversation splatting at his feet. Normal? Clearly something he could never be. The eccentric guy who sewed clothes and liked TV, and pretty things, and laughing. That, and contemplating Kyuhyun. His life. Kyuhyun glanced up, and their eyes locked for a long, uncomfortable moment.

“What about you?” Kyuhyun asked. “There wasn’t anyone you were interested in?”

The one man who was his, Zhou Mi thought. And could have shouted with relief that his phone started buzzing. Rude or not, he was answering it. He listened very carefully to the woman who spoke on the other end of the line. The secretary of a professor he’d been emailing in hopes of getting some attention. And they were offering a time.

“Oh! Yes. I am. Just one moment.” He lowered to phone and leaned toward Kyuhyun. “Can you get off work at 3, the day after tomorrow? To go see a researcher?”

Kyuhyun’s mouth bowed, and he nodded, indicating he could. Zhou Mi was nearly twisting in his chair.

“Yes. Yes ma’am. Thank you. We’ll see you then.” He sighed, sinking back. Kyuhyun was staring at him with curiosity, but Zhou Mi just smiled. “Finally. We finally got an appointment. There’s this expert I’ve been emailing for weeks, one of them, and I guess she’s finally accepting appointments.”

“Do you think she knows anything?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t really tell her much about our situation. Just that we were looking into blood bonds, their formation and possible breaking of them. I figure we can give more information in private, if we’re comfortable.”

Kyuhyun nodded slowly, stuffing another piece of meat into his mouth. Even if Zhou Mi hadn’t sampled the spices he saw Kyuhyun slathering on, his mouth still smarted in sympathy.

“So basically, we shouldn’t get any hopes up. And just see what she has to say,” Kyuhyun said after a minute.

The surface of the tea in his cup wasn’t telling him anything, nor was the sizzle of meat or wafting clouds of greasy smoke. What hopes were there to have, again?

“That’s right,” he said. And believed that it had to turn out for the best. It had to.

***

It was almost shocking to realize how fast time went. Kyuhyun was like just about every other worker, waking up on Monday and wishing the next day was Friday. Maybe it was wishing part of his life away, but it at least got him to the parts of his life that he enjoyed more.

But looking at the calendar, seeing how long it had been since Zhou Mi had bitten him, since they had registered, seemed unreal. Almost six weeks of a new routine. Five days of work, two days of leisure. Studying vampire facts. Existing beside Zhou Mi, and being his friend of a sort. Maybe it was wrong that he held himself back a little, but he figured it was also normal. He put on his blinders, and pretended everything was normal, that they were just roommates. And digging his nails into his leg while Zhou Mi fed kept most of the issues away. Most.

It was daylight when their meeting with the researcher was supposed to happen. Zhou Mi had met him at the subway stop by his work, in his special coverings, so that they could go together. Zhou Mi was even quieter than usual, which was odd, and he wondered at that. Maybe the researcher could tell them something, and maybe she couldn’t. He was trying not to let his hopes get too high, hoping at the very least that she could send them toward something that might be useful.

It wasn’t like Zhou Mi, in his getup, needed any introduction. She managed to shake both their hands, which he appreciated, even if she did seem rather overly interested in making sure Zhou Mi was seated comfortably in the office. It was an inoffensive place, mostly dominated by a large, messy desk and bookshelves. And some kind of potted plant that was shedding leaves at what looked like an unhealthy rate. The researcher herself was older than them, though well dressed. Or, well. She seemed older than either of them looked since Zhou Mi’s face was a little deceptive to his actual age.

“It’s very rare a blood bonded pair find their way to me. Usually I have to go search people out. Your emails seem to indicate that you’re looking for a way to end a blood bond? Was it an accidental bonding, or are you looking to divorce?”

“It was not accidental,” Zhou Mi said, his fingers close to Kyuhyun’s arm on the armrest. “It was forced.”

“Oh. There have been maybe ten, twelve cases in the last decade. Usually as a result of kidnappings, sometimes of virtual strangers, or friends caught together at the wrong time.”

Her voice was dreamy, as though she was reciting information from deep place. Not that she was romanticizing it. He supposed to someone it was fascinating. Maybe it would have been to him, too, if it wasn’t real life.

“That is the danger,” she continued. “The idea of vampire blood bonds is really fascinating. Really fascinating.”

“If you think it’s so cool, why don’t you have one yourself?” Kyuhyun asked. And he glanced at Zhou Mi to make sure he hadn’t taken it as Kyuhyun trying to give him away.

“It’s not that simple. Even finding an unbonded vampire doesn’t guarantee a match. And no reasonable person would ever use those kind of tactics— Forced bonds! Terrible. Criminal even.”

“Criminal. Yes. The police didn’t seem too interested. Now that we’re stuck, we want to know how to get out.”

“Even most of the lore doesn’t allow for breaking a bond. It’s a chemical, and physical process that actually changes the DNA of a vampire. Of course, in theory since the DNA was changed once, could it be again? There were experiments done, having a bonded vampire bite another human. But what was done was done. Nothing ever came from it.”

“So you’re saying there’s nothing we can do?” Kyuhyun asked, his stomach twisting.

She shook her head. “Not exactly. I think the most interesting thing is the vampires that can bite without bonding.”

Zhou Mi leaned forward almost as fast as he did. “What do you mean? How is that possible?”

“There has been speculation, oh, maybe for the past 20 years. Mostly by conspiracy theorists and whatnot, but it’s become more widely accepted that it’s possible that there is a subset of vampires. A “master race” even. A progenitor, of sorts. Whether it was an evolutionary thing, or perhaps interbreeding with humans cause a dilution of the antibodies - which causes the blood bonds - we aren’t sure. After all, no one has such a specimen to study.”

“Those “specimens” are as “human” as any other vampire,” Kyuhyun prodded, uncomfortable with the language.

“Of course. There’s no reason to think otherwise. The number of deaths from bites or exsanguinations are still fairly low, but there has been an uptick in some rural areas. If this vampire subset were once endangered, and coming back from that, it could explain it.”

“Or maybe they just weren’t reported accurately before?”

“That might account for some, but when the number of exsanguinations doubles year after year, I don’t think that can be explained.”

“We haven’t heard anything about that,” Zhou Mi said, frowning. “I searched all the news sites?”

“No, only researchers have been privy to that information. And of course I am telling you both under the strictest confidence. It wasn’t reported to keep panic to a minimum. Most vampires in urban environments are well-known, and easily identifiable. No one wanted to create witch hunts. Too easy for someone to target a bondmate and hasten the death process, even if it’s fully proven and documented that there is no continued danger to the public. Not that there was any danger to begin with.”

“But not to give warning?”

It was bad enough that he still had nightmares about being kidnapped off the street, but to think of being snatched by a vampire and bled to death? And for the families to have no answer, just that there was some threat out there waiting to hurt or kill some other innocent victim. It made his skin crawl, and almost made it look like what he and Zhou Mi engaged in, with Zhou Mi’s feeding, like the play of the most gentle puppies on earth. The researcher, however, was adamant that things weren’t being left to chance.

“Areas where deaths are occurring are warned as fully as possible. It’s not much different than a person with a gun. Don’t go outside at night alone, and things like that. The police aren’t intentionally trying to put people in danger. But whoever they are, they move quickly. But if we can find their secret? That’s your greatest chance. But it’s taken this long to even understand as much as we do. It could be years.”

“But certainly people are trying, for the others who had forced bonds?” Zhou Mi broke in. And Kyuhyun winced to think of another twenty, thirty people somewhere out there in the world who had started out just like them.

“I’ve spoken to many of those bondmates,” the researcher told them. “Some still would like to find a way, but most have found a very comfortable life together.”

“And that’s what you suggest for us?” Kyuhyun demanded. “Just sit back and pretend we didn’t have a crime perpetrated on us, and just be happy?”

It wasn’t as though he was trying to be rude. The mixed messages were swirling in his head. But the stare that was fixed on him could have frozen a boiling pot of water, and he was reminded of nothing so much as his own mother giving him a reprimanding stare.

“You could also be consumed by rage and dissatisfaction, take up vendettas, and die an early death. How you live your life is certainly not up to me. I don’t have any recommendations. You are free to choose how to live. Does your preference run to men…?’

Kyuhyun’s brain stumbled. “Yes, but— What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just taking notes for my file. Don’t worry, it’s entirely confidential. I have Zhou Mi’s information from the government, so I’m just curious as to how you fit in.”

“I’m not here to be part of your research,” Kyuhyun said, standing slowly. “I just want to figure out how to get on with my life.”

“It has been hard to adjust. For both of us,” Zhou Mi said, standing as well, and his tone only slightly apologetic for Kyuhyun’s words.

Her glance was sharply amused. “I understand. If you have more questions or need referrals, let me know. I’m curious to know how you are getting along.”

He let Zhou Mi take care of answering that, a lot more polite and smooth that Kyuhyun’s answer would’ve been. Sure, she was trying to help, but she was too much a researcher to let things go. Like the fact that they were real people, living real lives. And not just “subjects.” But if there were vampires out there who could bite at will? Perhaps there was something that none of the researchers knew, some secret no one had discovered. And he knew, as Zhou Mi met his eyes, that they were thinking the same thing. But he’d also heard her time estimate. Possibly years before anything was discovered. He crossed his arms over his chest in the sway of the subway, and watched the looks people sent at Zhou Mi. His hand flew to Zhou Mi’s shoulder as they rounded a curve, steadying himself.

But that wasn’t why it stayed there.

***


	5. Chapter Eight and Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

“Hi, this is Kyuhyun,” he said, juggling the phone with his mug of tea.

And as he said that, he realized that he’d been answering phones too long at work that way, if picking up the phone in Zhou Mi’s apartment had him saying that.

“Hi, is Zhou Mi there?”

“No, he’s out for a while.” Buying more lace, or thread, or whatever Zhou Mi had said as he sailed out the door. “Can I take a message?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “This is Eunhyuk. And I was just calling to let him know something. I can try his cell.”

Eunhyuk. Zhou Mi’s vampire friend. He remembered staring at Zhou Mi in some confusion, when he realized that Zhou Mi actually did know another vampire. He wasn’t sure why he’d been under the impression that Zhou Mi just didn’t know anyone. People didn’t live 40 some years and not pick up _some_ friends. It had actually kind of made him feel better about the situation, because he didn’t feel as much like he was totally bouncing into Zhou Mi’s life and then wanting to leave him a thousand percent alone. Even if Zhou Mi had told him that Eunhyuk lived a few hours away, wasn’t blood bonded, and had no idea about how to help. Because Zhou Mi had asked. He wondered if Zhou Mi called to complain while he was at work. Having to put up with Kyuhyun’s ass being around all the time and interrupting his life. Though he stared at the smiling frog magnet on the fridge, and kind of answered his own question.

“Is it something about the blood bond, or…?”

“Yes,” Eunhyuk said. “There’s been this researcher poking around. Actually, I think you guys met him once. He’s doing research on the social aspects of vampires who do and don’t have blood bonds. But he’s got this blog online, and he posted an entry about blood bonds that were voluntary and involuntary. I sent it to Zhou Mi’s email, along with some rumors that have been going around on vampires biting people.”

Vampires biting people. Kyuhyun wasn’t even sure what to make of that, and focused on the one thing he understood.

“So he’s researching blood bonds. He knows you know Zhou Mi?”

“I never told him that I knew Zhou Mi,” Eunhyuk said sharply. “I’m not an information service.”

“No, I didn’t— Right. I know he appreciates all your help, and so do I,” Kyuhyun said, trying to get his foot back out of his mouth.

“He’s my friend.”

And there was the distinct implication that Kyuhyun was _not._

“I’ll let him know you called, if you don’t get him on his cell,” Kyuhyun said stiffly. He didn’t need someone judging their relationship. And he had no idea what Eunhyuk was or had been to Zhou Mi. Two vampires couldn’t bond, but did that keep them from caring?

“Just appreciate what he’s doing for you. Have a good day.”

And Kyuhyun stared at the phone with displeasure. A good friend to Zhou Mi, it seemed, but clearly no fan of his.

He settled on the couch by the time the door opened, and he waited until Zhou Mi had called a greeting and had gotten out of his shoes.

“Did Eunhyuk call your cell?”

“He did! It’s interesting what that researcher is studying. I wonder if he’ll end up uncovering any lore about breaking blood bonds.” Zhou Mi’s last words were muffled, dropping off his bag of sewing supplies in the work room before emerging again. “I guess he’s looking at the social aspects of it, too. I think I talked to that researcher for ten minutes on the phone once, but he was one of those ones I couldn’t pin down.”

“Ahh,” Kyuhyun said, inching closer to the arm of the couch when Zhou Mi flopped down beside him. Not that he didn’t want Zhou Mi touching him, it was just that Zhou Mi didn’t always have the most control over his limbs.

“So you got to speak to Eunhyuk,” Zhou Mi said, beaming at him. “I think he was really surprised to have someone else answer the phone, even if you’ve been here as long as you have.”

“Yeah, I was pretty surprised, too.” And he watched as Zhou Mi used his toes to straighten the table a little. “You’ve known each other a long time. Did you guys ever think of dating?”

Zhou Mi’s head swung back to him. “What?”

“I know you can’t bond, but he’s the only vampire you knew, so…?”

Zhou Mi actually laughed, settling back into the couch and letting his head angle toward Kyuhyun.

“No, we were never meant for that. Though I don’t what I would do without his advice at times,” Zhou Mi murmured. “We have been there for each other for a lot of the hardest times in our lives. Both of our parents, gone. Both of us living alone. He has more friends than I do, human friends who don’t mind who he is. And he has tried to get me to move where he is. I figured I might, one day.”

Kyuhyun made a soft sound, understanding creeping through him. “I wondered why you’d choose to live alone.”

“You just get used to things being one way. I lived here all that time, because my parents were here, and they were getting older. And when they were gone, moving meant such a big change. Time passes so quickly.”

He nudged Zhou Mi’s elbow with his own. “But you were lonely.” And when Zhou Mi sort of ducked his head, he continued, saying, “I know that because you didn’t murder me on the spot for intruding on your solitude.”

“I don’t think I would live so alone again,” Zhou Mi admitting, smiling at him. “So I can thank you for letting me see how I needed to change my life.”

“I didn’t know I’d like living with someone, either.” And that admission was almost as much a surprise to him as it was to Zhou Mi. “But it’s nice, because we have privacy and alone time, and not someone up in our faces all the time.”

“I didn’t want you to think of me as your mom,” Zhou Mi laughed.

That was definitely far from how he thought of Zhou Mi. And for not the first time, he was really glad that Zhou Mi had no ability to see into his head. But Zhou Mi went to his sewing, and Kyuhyun back to puttering on his games. And that was satisfying in itself. Knowing Zhou Mi was there for him to harass. It made him smile at his screen. And though the rumors that Eunhyuk sent were little more than speculation, it still gave them something to think about. Something to wait for more information about. Something to hope for.

***

There were times that Kyuhyun felt like a sloth, and he told himself severely that he had to watch what he ate. That or he and Zhou Mi were going to look like examples of “Do” and “Do Not” just standing next to each other. He wondered if he should buy a bike, or a treadmill or something. Though he wasn’t exactly sure where he’d put it. If he got rid of his bed frame and mattress, he’d have a place there, but that seemed like such a waste. And he could just imagine himself running on a treadmill and cursing at Zhou Mi’s back as Zhou Mi was hunched over his sewing machine. There was always some half-finished project rolling around. A skirt, a dress. Some kind of shirt or jumper. Inevitably something of Kyuhyun’s, though Zhou Mi had drawn the line at sewing his underwear. Which meant they had nice new rags, and Kyuhyun had nice new underwear. Best of both worlds.

“What do you like to do best for exercise?” he asked Zhou Mi, and wondered, only slightly bitter, if Zhou Mi had to exercise at all.

“I go out walking during the day sometimes,” Zhou Mi told him. “Or just cleaning in here. I used to run, but even I get self-conscious running during the day. People react like a ghost is running at them.”

The image had him rolling his eyes. “So have you run at night?”

“The park is all fenced, so it’s pretty safe. But I haven’t. Do you like running at night?”

“It’s nice when it’s not too cold. I hate the feeling like my lungs are forming ice shards.”

Zhou Mi hummed thoughtfully. “It’d be even safer with two of us. Did you want to try? Sometime, I mean?”

He thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t like Zhou Mi was suggesting they run a marathon, and he did feel the need to just get out.

He nodded, pushing himself up off the couch. “Let’s do it.”

Zhou Mi wasn’t dressed much different than he was, in his t-shirt and shorts. He’d have taken music, but that seemed rude if they were running together. They could iron it out, if it became a habit. The park, after dark, was locked to all but neighborhood residents who had keys. It made it that much safer, but obviously not perfect. Just two normal guys, out for a jog. But he absolutely, after the first five seconds, kept his eyes to himself as they stretched. It was kind of like watching a giraffe stretch more than a gazelle or something, but with his mind, he wasn’t counting on sanity winning out.

“You set the pace,” Zhou Mi offered, smiling. “I can keep up, or go slow as you want.”

No sprints then. Because Zhou Mi would probably keep going while Kyuhyun was clutching at his sides. The jogging pace he set was decent, not embarrassing, but something he could sustain. And Zhou Mi neither lumbered nor glided beside him. Keeping up with Kyuhyun’s pace, and pointing out the occasional weird lighting effect caused by passing cars. The path was well-lit, at least. No tripping over sticks or having bogeymen jump out from behind bushes.

Two loops of the park, and he was feeling himself begin to tire. Listening to Zhou Mi’s more-easy breathing, and feeling more like a couch-potato than ever.

He pointed to the lamp pole near the entrance as the neared it. “Race you!” he shouted, and was off like a shot.

Kind of cheating, but who was counting? He didn’t even make it all the way, detouring to the grassy hill and flopping onto his back to pant. His muscles singing, and complaining as Zhou Mi got back to him and got all his limbs on the grass as well.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone out and just rolled around in the grass, much less in the dark. Or mostly the dark, since there were lights all around.

“I’m so glad it’s getting warmer out,” Zhou Mi sighed. “Even if I can’t really freeze, it just feels nicer.”

“Yeah it’s nice to go outside without thinking you’re going to freeze a finger off.”

He sighed, and stared up at the sky. Too many lights to really see many stars, but there were a few. He wondered how long it had been since he’d been outside the city. Probably too long. If they heard news about where vampires were biting, it might give them a chance to get out of the city a while. Though he still had no idea what they would find. He tried to imagine Zhou Mi on a horse, and laughed softly.

“What’s so funny?” Zhou Mi wanted to know, grunting a little as he turned on his side toward Kyuhyun.

“Just hoping I don’t get grass stains on my butt, or the guy who washes my clothes might get angry,” he deflected.

Zhou Mi shoved at him, which of course prompted him to shove back. He managed to get Zhou Mi rolled onto his back, only by a half luck, but Zhou Mi had sprung back in moments. Pinning Kyuhyun with an elbow and a knee, and laughing into his ear as Kyuhyun struggled. He almost got free, to his credit, but the disadvantage was his. He was more out of breath from laughing than he had been from the running before he called a truce, Zhou Mi’s long arms besting him.

“Turning you in for abuse,” he grunted, finally out from under Zhou Mi’s restricting arm.

“They’d believe you,” Zhou Mi mused. “I wonder what they could do, though? Send us both to jail?”

“Ugh, don’t even talk about that. You know I wouldn’t.”

There was that warm glow again, when he could almost feel Zhou Mi’s eyes on him. “Yeah, I know.”

“Have you seen the stars, outside of the city? We can see a few, but there are so many more. My parents used to take me. I miss that.”

“I have only been outside of the city once,” Zhou Mi murmured. “My parents were cautious with my safety, because of how things had been. Attacks on vampires were more common back then. They knew in the city, I would be mostly safe. I have everything I need here, though I am curious.”

“Maybe we can see stars, if we go to check out those vampire rumors Eunhyuk was talking about. If we ever hear back about them.”

“You can show me all about them,” Zhou Mi said with a sigh. “I want to see it.”

“Soon. Let’s get back before we become part of the grass.”

Zhou Mi popped to his feet with an awkward sort of grace, reaching down to give Kyuhyun a boost up as well. It was chillier, then, briskly walking out the gate and toward the apartment. Laughing as Zhou Mi nearly fell on the stairs joking back at him.

“Did you bring two left feet out tonight?”

“Always,” Zhou Mi retorted, fiddling with his keys.

“Must be hard being that leggy and uncoordinated.”

The snort was immediate, as was the amused look. Not taken as an insult, because it really hadn’t been meant as one. He was the one taking the peeks at the back of Zhou Mi’s calves after all. Athletic socks and running shoes. Sharp shins, and kneecaps. If there was a spare ounce of flesh, he figured only Zhou Mi knew where it was. And yet somehow he was proportionate, healthy looking. Soft enough to the touch. Strong hands, and—

He shook his head, following Zhou Mi into the apartment, stepping out of his shoes. The jog back up the street had gotten him heated again, and all he wanted was to step into the shower before his head started itching. But Zhou Mi hadn’t moved. And in fact, had turned back so that Kyuhyun had barely gotten a foot onto their wood floors before he was pausing. It wasn’t like they were touching, but Zhou Mi’s head had lowered and he could feel the warmth of Zhou Mi’s breath on his shoulder. Frozen in some kind of curiosity or denial, as Zhou Mi inhaled. Did he smell bad, or something? The words were right there to make a joke, to question what Zhou Mi was doing.

But with the soft sound from Zhou Mi’s throat and his head raising, Kyuhyun lost what grasp he had on his voice entirely.

***

Zhou Mi knew he had startled Kyuhyun, just by the way Kyuhyun’s shoulders bobbled. Frozen with one foot on the small ledge up to the main floor level, eyes wide with that curious little-boy look that sometimes came to play. The look that made him want to cup Kyuhyun’s face and coo at him - though Kyuhyun probably would have knocked him away with a headbutt. It also kind of made him want to kiss that mouth, but that was no a unique thing, or tied to any look in particular. It just was.

But walking in that night, Kyuhyun’s laugh. Letting himself breath in deeply. Over the scent of Kyuhyun’s blood was the scent of his sweat. Of course Zhou Mi’s antibodies were everywhere, he could smell himself in that. But it elevated his senses, just that much. To stand there, Kyuhyun’s neck damp and so close, he wanted to press into that skin, and inhale. Smelling sweat, blood, skin. The bare traces of fabric detergent.

“You need something?” Kyuhyun asked, bursting him out of his bubble. He blushed, literally, to the roots of his hair, feeling his scalp prickle.

“It’s just _interesting_ ,” he rushed out. “Your sweat. I do sweat a little, naturally, but nothing like you do.”

The front of Kyuhyun’s shirt was darkened in a little V. He imagined pressing his hand there, feeling the wetness, the warmth underneath. The beat of Kyuhyun’s heart against his sternum. The beat of it raising for Zhou Mi?

“Thanks.” Though the way Kyuhyun said it was a little less than grateful.

“No, it wasn’t a bad thing. It’s just interesting too because I can smell myself in your sweat. My antibodies.”

Kyuhyun seemed to sense that Zhou Mi wasn’t moving, and brushed by him. Zhou Mi followed, almost drawn to, as they went into the bedroom.

“So you were sniffing after me because you could smell yourself?” Kyuhyun shook his head, causing a few distracting droplets to drip down his neck. “You are weird.”

“No, it’s not like smelling me. It’s smelling myself on you. Smelling you, and me in you? I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s still you.”

“Ah, so like a claiming thing or something? Manly man, have done your marking?”

Zhou Mi’s heart nearly froze at the statement, its implication, and the images that ran through him because of it.

“Sure,” he said faintly. “But no! I mean. It’s just… It’s different. It’s not like I’ve had this experience with anyone else before. There are times it seems more real.”

He had to shut himself up before he said something even more stupid, the way that Kyuhyun was looking at him. He wondered if that sweat was salty, if it tasted differently in the hollow of Kyuhyun’s throat.

“Heads or tails?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Uh. Heads?”

The coin kept on the edge of the dresser fell spun through the air to land in Kyuhyun’s palm.

“Tails, I win. If my sweat is so fascinating, here,” Kyuhyun said.

Zhou Mi was frozen, reaching on instinct as Kyuhyun first peeled off, and then tossed his shirt to Zhou Mi. And he stared at it in fascinated horror. It was one thing for it to be hot - while still on Kyuhyun’s body - and another to be holding Kyuhyun’s damp and sweaty shirt.

“Kyuhyun! That’s gross!” he protested as Kyuhyun disappeared into the bathroom.

“You asked for it!”

The door closing was with a rather satisfied thunk. Still, Zhou Mi raised the shirt, sniffing carefully. It still smelled good. But holding it was something else.

They usually flipped a coin for the shower, but at least that time he lost, cheerfully. Or outwardly cheerful anyway. Because after he’d deposited the sweaty shirt in the hamper, even hugging the refrigerator didn’t help. Trying to work one of the silly logic puzzles that Kyuhyun kept in a basket didn’t either. The pipes in the old building seemed to creak more than usual, telling a little tale of Kyuhyun being naked not far away. And wet. And though he couldn’t hear, possibly singing in silky baritone. Of course, thinking of that was really going to keep himself under control.

He did get his pajamas and clean underwear set and ready. And with a quick adjustment, even the pants he was wearing were mostly acceptable. Maybe he wouldn’t have cared quite as much, but it could get so awkward, so fast. _Ah, Kyuhyun, I want you, and we’ll still be sleeping in the same bed. Hope you don’t mind if I touch a little more than usual._

“Shower’s free!” Kyuhyun called from the bedroom.

He pasted a smile on his face, and made for his clothes. And kept on walking when he realized Kyuhyun was only half dressed. Somehow he managed to get the bathroom door closed behind himself, leaning back against it with a hand on his newly aching crotch. It was just Kyuhyun’s back. _Just his back._ It didn’t have to be that way. He found blessed release in the shower. He could take care of that part himself. But there was no way to win back Kyuhyun’s friendship, if he squandered it.

***

 

 

***

Zhou Mi’s little plan hatched slowly. He’d gone out to get food on the list that Kyuhyun kept around. He checked levels of things, like how many fruits and vegetables they still had, how many eggs. How many packages of ramen. It didn’t bother him to go out and buy it. The neighborhood was more or less accustomed to him, and it was probably obvious by the fact that he was buying food, that he was buying it for someone else. He just refused to be hidden away, locked up as though he were ashamed of himself. He was little different than them, besides the fact that he would blister in the sun, and fed on blood. He had ten fingers and ten toes, two ears, and the occasional strangely placed hair. He didn’t wake up every day thinking _Hey, I’m a vampire!_ Normally, it was, _Hey, I’m a man!_ because it was obvious what was going on in his pants was reacting to the fact that Kyuhyun was still blissed out in the pillows nearby.

He was slightly ashamed that he had let as much time pass as it had. Kyuhyun was undeniably more comfortable. He’d wander out to see Kyuhyun passed out on the couch, or furiously gaming, or crabbily complaining about his day as he cooked. He knew about Kyuhyun’s family, though he’d never met them. Kyuhyun had a sister, parents, grandparents. People he hadn’t told about Zhou Mi. And he would’ve been lying if he said that he wasn’t concerned by that at all. He didn’t consider the time spent as wasted. They had found new books. He figured that Kyuhyun knew about as much about vampires as Zhou Mi did himself. But Zhou Mi didn’t have friends for Kyuhyun to meet, not that lived nearby. No one for Kyuhyun to get comfortable with, or compare Zhou Mi to. There were “vampire watches” in the city, but he didn’t trust them. Pictures of people almost fully covered. Were they vampires, or not? Who knew. He wasn’t to the desperation point of finding someone else for Kyuhyun to talk to.

And even if they’d found some kind of routine that seemed to fit them both, that didn’t mean it had to stay that way. It seemed what they had afforded both enough privacy for Kyuhyun to fill his need to be alone, but then also being social. If television was the truth, they spoke about as much as any roommates did. But with the exception that roommates wasn’t all they were. And not all that he wanted them to be. He remembered back to being a child, laughing with his parents around the table. And that was when he actually paid attention to the toy store that he passed when he went for Kyuhyun’s food. The stacks of games. Something they could do together, that wasn’t passive. That wasn’t just sitting in their respective seats and watching TV or movies, or reading. Sure, he occasionally helped Kyuhyun to cook, or they ran together, but most of those were just more passive things. Nothing that encouraged them to really interact.

Not like a game could.

He thought Kyuhyun would probably be pretty competitive, but Zhou Mi was, too. He only got a few wary glances when he went into the store, looking up and down the isle for something that would not make Kyuhyun want to bury himself, but also keep Zhou Mi’s attention. And he found it, after almost passing it over, laughing to himself as he lifted the box. And it was impulse that had him grabbing something from the cheap toys attached to a dangling plastic strip. He all but had to bite his lips to keep from grinning maniacally as his purchase was rung up, thanking the shopkeeper politely. But he couldn’t wait for Kyuhyun to get home and eat, so he could unveil his surprise.

***

Luck was with him, Kyuhyun had felt too lazy to cook so he had bought something already prepared. It sped things up by a little. There were the occasions when Zhou Mi fed not long after Kyuhyun did, but he didn’t think he wanted to that night. Too excited for what they were going to be doing. Or at least hopeful that Kyuhyun would be excited as well. He had warned himself that there could be disappointment ahead, if Kyuhyun just laughed him off, but he really couldn’t keep that mindset. Kyuhyun would be just as amused as he, and even if they only played once every couple of weeks, he’d still have considered it a success.

“I know you like computer games, but do you like board games?” Zhou Mi asked, as Kyuhyun cleaned up from his dinner.

“I guess some are okay,” Kyuhyun allowed. “Why?”

“I just got… I got a surprise. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but I thought it might be fun.”

Curiosity was written all over Kyuhyun’s face, but he actually chased Kyuhyun out of the room to set it up. Carefully setting out his side, and Kyuhyun’s. Arranging the chairs. And Kyuhyun actually looked wary when Zhou Mi had said he could come back out, like he thought that Zhou Mi thought that putting thumb screws in people counted as fun.

And he watched, trying not to be anxious, as the grin started spreading across Kyuhyun’s face.

“Battleship? I loved this game when I was a kid. My dad would beat me like crazy, all the time until I got better at it. What made you think of it?”

“I was passing by the store,” Zhou Mi said, touching the corner of the game. “I just thought it might be nice to have something to do that didn’t require staring at a screen.”

He left out the “together” but it stuck in his throat anyway. And the game was one he remembered fondly playing with his own father.

“Regular or salvo?” Kyuhyun asked, sliding into his chair and starting to examine the game pieces.

“Let’s try regular. If you want a second game, we can play salvo.”

“Sounds good,” Kyuhyun grinned up at him again. “What does the winner get? I used to bet my dad for chores. Which is why I think he won so often.”

Zhou Mi laughed, trying to imagine bartering clothes washing or something on a game. “No wagers this time.”

“You’re scared,” Kyuhyun teased. But they began to place their ships. Zhou Mi was first.

“C7,” Zhou Mi said, with the hope of a first move. The likelihood of a hit right away, fairly slim. But not impossible.

It was a miss, as were his next five tries. But all of Kyuhyun’s were misses, too. He hissed as Kyuhyun called out a square. His control ship, damn. The hardest one to find.

“Hit,” he grumbled, though trying not to give away just quite how unhappy it had made him.

“One of the guys at work got engaged,” Kyuhyun mused, as Zhou Mi took and hit with his next shot. “It kind of made me wonder about the blood bonding and stuff. I know we talked about it, but doesn’t it kind of make sense to get with another vampire? You can’t bite each other, but at least you wouldn’t ever die.”

“It would make sense for some,” Zhou Mi admitted. “Companionship and sex could be there. But for those desiring children, two vampires could never produce a child. And feeding as part of the bond is such an important thing. I survived very well on the blood of animals, but it isn’t as… As fulfilling, I guess.”

“Is it the quality of the food?” Kyuhyun wondered. “F6. Like I could survive for a long time eating vegetables, but I’d really miss out having beef and stuff, too.”

“Miss. And it’s kind of a quality thing? Obviously, your blood is better balanced for me. It’s like the difference between getting stuck in a train car with a stranger, or with a friend. Or maybe comfort food? I’m not sure. C1.”

“Hit. So it feels different, not just in terms of what you need nutritionally. So I’m Kyuhyun, comfort blood container? H8.”

“Miss. You’re Kyuhyun. If you fed me the blood of a thousand people, I could pick out yours.”

“Yeah, because it has your antibodies in it.”

Zhou Mi laughed, pleased by Kyuhyun’s quick thought. “That’s true, too. I guess it’s one of those things that just is. A1?”

“Ugh. Hit. Destroyer is down. Would I recognize your bite from a thousand others, then?”

Zhou Mi dared not raise his eyes, though his jaw tightened immeasurably. “They could not. Would not. Not without me there to stop them.”

“So you’re proprietary about me all the time then.”

“Would you want me bringing a different man home every night, feeding from him in our bed?”

Kyuhyun’s hand was still on his glass, though he wouldn’t look up at Zhou Mi. “No, I guess that’d be kind of weird. Though if you could do that, I don’t know why you’d need me.”

“Need and want are not mutually exclusive.”

It was fully possible for him to need Kyuhyun, but also want him near. It didn’t matter which came first. If he had to drink from a hundred other men, what would they mean to him? How would they change the want he had for Kyuhyun? The need just _was_. And the want with it.

It turned out that Kyuhyun’s skill at the game hadn’t been overstated, and Zhou Mi’s reluctance not to wager hadn’t been too cautious. Because Kyuhyun had quite literally beat his pants off. Sinking his submarine, his last ship, even before Zhou Mi had found Kyuhyun’s carrier. Kyuhyun did a little victory dance in his chair, laughing at Zhou Mi’s pout.

“Don’t worry. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the salvo game. Want to wager this time?”

“What could I possibly wager?” Zhou Mi pondered,

“Neck massages?” Kyuhyun suggested, sitting back down with his cup of tea.

“I wonder if anyone plays strip Battleship.”

The choked sound, Kyuhyun staring at him over the rim of the sturdy mug had him laughing. In the most embarrassed way he knew how. He hadn’t even meant it to sound quite like he had, and then he had the images to go with it, and clearly he’d shocked Kyuhyun with the idea.

“No one would ever get naked,” Kyuhyun argued. “There are only five ships.”

“Depends on how many clothes you were wearing. And if both socks counted as one article.”

“Sure, if you went socks, pants, shirt, underwear, but even then you’re only naked at the end of the game. There’d have to be a multiple game rule.”

“Or maybe instead of an article of clothing per ship, an article of clothing per hit?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “Yeah, that’d probably be better. And if it was drinking, you could take a drink with every hit, too. Be pretty sloshed by the end of the game depending on if you won, and what you were drinking.”

“Sounds like that could be dangerous.”

He couldn’t help the grin, placing his ships in the least logical pattern he could think of. For salvo play, he had a strategy of trying to be random with his strikes, hoping to find as many ships as he could. And he got two hits right away, working around those before Kyuhyun could reduce his number of shots by too many. And he got lucky, four rounds in, sinking Kyuhyun’s control ship. It meant that he had no problem finding Kyuhyun’s carrier and finally winning for a change.

Kyuhyun was still muttering about wagers as they started the third game, playing salvo again. One shot each turn for every ship that hadn’t been sunk. It made things go much more swiftly, but Zhou Mi also had a plan. Moving his control boat surreptitiously as Kyuhyun scattered his shots.

“No way,” Kyuhyun argued, as Zhou Mi encroached on the last of his ships. “Tell me you’re not cheating over there. There’s no way I can’t have found that ship, yet.”

“I can’t… Why would I?”

He got a napkin to the face, and Kyuhyun mock slamming his forehead down on the game.

“So much for going easy on you, tricky bastard.”

“Sorry. Sorry,” Zhou Mi laughed, nearly tripping as he got to his feet. “I had a good reason! I swear.”

He waited for Kyuhyun to figure out what he held in his palm, the little toy extra he’d bought at the same time. “So I get fake vampire teeth? Is this an anniversary gift, or do we start mysteriously looking alike after a while?”

“It’s a toy I saw when I got the game. Costume, maybe? How it feels like to have teeth?”

“Well, I think I have the teeth part down. These teeth don’t really seem right.”

But Kyuhyun took the pink and white rubber from him, adjusting, and getting them in his mouth. And then giving Zhou Mi the goofiest, cockeyed smile he’d ever seen. He couldn’t help but laugh, the teeth looked so strange in Kyuhyun’s mouth. Like he had stolen teeth from a wolf, a horse and who knew what else.

“Those really look nothing like mine,” he said, lips trembling, and desperately trying not to want to touch.

Kyuhyun’s voice sounded kind of funny round the molded rubber. “I hope yours taste better.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

It seemed like kind of a silly thing, as Kyuhyun took them back out. Examining the teeth.

“I can’t believe they sell things like this. I don’t know how you can deal with that.”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “Anything people fear is funny or interesting to someone else. Insects, snakes. Fake vampire teeth.”

“I guess you don’t have to worry about me biting you,” Kyuhyun said. And Zhou Mi was glad that Kyuhyun dropped it. He’d meant it to be funny, not Kyuhyun being angry in his defense.

People weren’t trying to commit crimes with those teeth. Maybe there was mockery and fun, but no one was hurt by it. Not immediately anyway.

“If they worked, you’d be welcome to bite me.”

Kyuhyun just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right, you cheater. Right after we play strip Battleship.”

“You know I don’t actually cheat, right? Right?”

And he trailed after Kyuhyun until he got an answer that satisfied him. And he got his feed, sprawled beside Kyuhyun in bed and talking. Well. Kyuhyun talking, since Zhou Mi was otherwise engaged. It didn’t matter about what. Kyuhyun could have been talking about cloud formations. If he had no other sense that worked, he could have fallen for that voice. But he did, all engaged at once. Kyuhyun’s skin, under his fingers. Blood against his tongue. Face, even dim in the light, and that voice. He’d gotten what he wanted. Kyuhyun near him. Talking to him. Joking with him. Maybe even a little bit flirting with him. That night, Kyuhyun fell asleep before Zhou Mi was finished feeding. Once, he would have laid Kyuhyun’s arm down by his side. Carefully covering him with the blanket. But the remembrance of Kyuhyun laughing across from him had him turning on his side. Keeping that arm in his hand, and dreaming. With Kyuhyun’s fingers against his face. More than one dream. That they stayed that way.

***

It was easy, too easy, to let time pass. An hour, a day, a week. Letting month slip into month, until he was turning the calendar over to May. He let his fingers curl one by one, counting the months. He’d nearly curved down three, and couldn’t believe it. It seemed like so much time, and not long at all. He could hear Zhou Mi singing along with the radio in his work room, cranking out dresses and handkerchiefs or whatever, and he let his eyes skid away from the calendar. He didn’t like to think about it. He hadn’t even told his parents. At first it had felt so temporary, so sudden. And then they were working to try and fix things. And then once he had thought to tell them, he’d put it off a week or two. His mother was going to have his head in a little bitty box on her dresser by the time she was though, if he ended up telling them at all. It wasn’t like he’d lied to them. Exactly. He had told them he’d moved in with someone. Cheaper rent! Free was cheaper. But his relationship with his roommate, that he’d left out.

_Sure, Mom, in the eyes of the law we’re married, and yeah we sleep in the same room and bed, but what’s there to worry about? He’s a big friendly vampire. Honest._

None of his friends from school knew, and Ryeowook wasn’t exactly spreading around rumors that his friend was shacked up with a vampire. He was mostly glad that Ryeowook was still speaking to him at all. They’d had one other outing with Zhou Mi in tow, but the dinner had been almost silent again. Like Zhou Mi’s presence was enough to destroy any need to talk. It had been Zhou Mi who suggested laying off going along in the future.

“I don’t understand why he’s so weird. It’s not like you’re the Hulk or something.”

Zhou Mi had smiled, wiping his hands on one of the lime green dish towels that had been Zhou Mi’s choice, definitely.

“From what you’ve told me, he doesn’t seem the type to be purposely judgmental. Have you asked him why vampires scare him?”

“Kind of. But he doesn’t ever want to talk about it.”

“Maybe he’ll tell you one day. Maybe that’ll help you understand. Until then, I’ll just stay back. Because then at least you have time with your friend.”

It wasn’t as though he’d wanted Ryeowook and Zhou Mi to be friendly because of who Zhou Mi was to him. Some kind of “couple sharing a friend” thing. He’d just been unnerved by Ryeowook’s reaction. There were things he could ignore, but Ryeowook had looked so spooked, that he’d almost felt like he’d been helping. But, he hadn’t really been helping in the end. Because it had gotten them nowhere. Zhou Mi thinking he was still as scary as any big bad wolf, and Ryeowook just as unnerved by who Kyuhyun lived with. It wasn’t like there were any kids books he could pull up, either. “Once there was a nice vampire who lived in the forest, and then came along a Kyuhyun and a Ryeowook, and all were friends.”

He rolled his eyes at himself, and went back to building his in-game supplies. And laughing as Zhou Mi very politely cursed out the sewing machine.

“What is it this time?” he called from the couch. Not like he could see into the room, but he knew Zhou Mi could hear him.

“Broken needle, stupid thing! Okay, it was my fault, there was a pin, but augh!”

Just listening to Zhou Mi rant cheered him up.

***

Kyuhyun rolled over, flopping on his belly on the couch so he could better eyeball the computer screen. Mostly just idly going through the news, but there were a few other things he was doing. Like filtering his junk mail, and checking the updates of his friends, and mostly trying not to pass out right there on the couch. It wasn’t even 8 at night, but he was just comfortable enough to consider it. It was quiet, aside from Zhou Mi working in the sewing room. He sort of dozed to it, until he was rudely woken.

There was something very distinctive about say, something heavy like a book hitting the floor, and something heavy like a human. A timbre of the shock waves, or something. He didn’t even know. Or perhaps it was the fact that preceding the small apartment shake, there had been a very distinctive Zhou Mi-in-distress cry. He wasn’t even sure what he was gong to find, as he popped up off the couch to go look into Zhou Mi’s sewing room. Zhou Mi in a heap? Unconscious?

What he found was a Zhou Mi plopped on the floor, covered with and surrounded by a small avalanche of unwound lace and ribbon. There was also a large plastic container, which he assumed had held all the bits. Notions? Zhou Mi had told him once, but he didn’t retain that kind of stuff very well.

“Seems like a pretty inefficient way of finding what you need,” Kyuhyun said, when he had satisfied himself that Zhou Mi was fine, just glaring around himself like that would make the lace jump back into the box.

“I think I stepped on my measuring stick that I knocked down,” Zhou Mi said, sighing forlornly. “I had no idea I had this much stuffed in that box.”

“Looks like more lace than a princess dress,” Kyuhyun agreed.

“I bought these things that you can wrap lace and ribbon around, so it doesn’t get to be a tangled mess. But I just never got to it.”

Zhou Mi raised his arms, and had about ten different colors of lace and ribbon streaming off of them like odd feathers.

“Sewing room gives you wings,” he commented wryly.

Zhou Mi waved him off with a laugh, letting his arms drop again.

“I guess it’s a good time for you to finally put these things on those organizers.”

Zhou Mi made a face, but reluctantly sighed. “Yes. Yes, I guess it is. There goes my sewing time today.”

“I guess I can help,” he offered, not totally reluctant, but not exactly enthused either. “If you tell me what you need me to do.”

“The organizers are in a box in the closet. Um. The red one, I think.”

Of course, all of Zhou Mi’s boxes were color coded. He did find the plastic box, with its red tape on the outside, and Zhou Mi explained that the odds and ends of trim would be wound around and pinned, so they didn’t get tangled like the mess he was sitting in.

“Did you wanted it organized by color? Length?” Kyuhyun asked, moving a small snarling pile.

Zhou Mi just stared at him in horror. But they settled on one thing, which Zhou Mi had seemed excited about: using the little sticky tags that were also in the box to measure each length. That way if Zhou Mi needed a yard, and he only had two feet of ribbon, he’d know he needed more without having to measure it seventeen times. They did two lengths of ribbon or lace at a time, measuring both cooperatively using a measuring tape, and then each winding one onto their own organizer. Each organizer held seven or eight different ribbons. But whoever finished winding first could start untangling another length from the pile.

Zhou Mi was studiously working on a yard of green ribbon, when Kyuhyun fished and came up with a bit of sparkly gold lace about eight inches long. He snickered, looking up at Zhou Mi.

“Here, king of the lace pile,” Kyuhyun said, carefully curling the lace onto Zhou Mi’s head like some kind of crown. Zhou Mi posed for him carefully, and Kyuhyun took out his phone to get a picture.

“I need my scepter,” Zhou Mi said, and reached for some kind of rolling cutter that looked like a wicked pizza wheel.

And with a length of ribbon as a scarf, King Zhou Mi of Laceland was complete. Though he was definitely not interested in wearing the lace himself.

“It’s your stuff,” he grunted, dragging out another length of ribbon. “I can’t exactly put my games on my head.”

“I could make you a costume from a game,” Zhou Mi laughed, eyes dancing before he got the organizer between his teeth. “Or pajamas that looked like them.”

Kyuhyun sputtered to imagine wandering around the apartment in very fashionable, game-inspired pajamas. “I think I can pass on that. We could just cosplay all the time. King Zhou Mi and the human from space.”

“Captain of a ship?” Zhou Mi asked. “Captain Cho?”

He laughed, more amused than he should’ve been. “I could get used to being called that.”

“Aye aye, Captain Cho.”

Kyuhyun flicked a stray button at Zhou Mi and kept winding. As long as Zhou Mi didn’t call him that in bed. That was a little too much. He imagined Zhou Mi whispering that in his ear, and wound even faster.

They were finally left with scraps too short to be wound, a few of which Zhou Mi threw away, and others than he put in a much smaller box. At least it wouldn’t become a big blobbing mess. The rest were wound on the organizers, and each had a sticker marking their length. Zhou Mi snapped the lid on the container and flopped onto it with a heaving sigh.

“Done. _Thank you_. I probably would’ve just sat and frowned and shoved everything back in just how it came out.”

“Sure. I guess it’s some kind of workout.” He idly picked up a book sitting nearby.

“Oh,” Zhou Mi said, seeing what he was holding. “I like to take pictures of the things I finish. Obviously I’m not a girl, or the right size for most things, so it’s usually just on the dressform.”

The creepy, vaguely female-shaped headless thing in the corner. Kyuhyun acknowledged it, but tried not to actually look at it directly when he entered the room. It was probably illogical, but it kind of creeped him out. Even if it was more frothy than a milkshake currently with Zhou Mi’s latest creation. But the scrapbook itself was cute. Dresses and whatnot jazzed up by different colored backgrounds, and stickers of sewing and animal designs. A few weather-related things too based on if it was a warm or cold weather outfit.

His thumb rubbed over the edge of a sticker. A raised, glittered pair of eyeglasses. He idly thought that Zhou Mi, though eh probably didn’t need glasses, would look good in them. He looked good in the flashy sunglasses, so he’d look good in actual frames. Though, who didn’t look good in glasses.

Though he realized the book he was holding wasn’t the only one. There were seven or eight in the little shelf.

“I thought you said you’d just started doing this?”

Zhou Mi nodded, raising a hand to pet down an imaginary unruly lock of hair. “I started about five years ago or so.”

Five years would seem pretty recent to Zhou Mi, he guessed. It wasn’t like he thought all the time about Zhou Mi’s age, but at times like those, it struck him. Zhou Mi’s mouth was almost pouting in concentration as stacked the boxes. Of all the features on Zhou Mi’s face, it was strangest to see that mouth quiet. And no, he wasn’t calling Zhou Mi a motormouth, it was just very mobile, that was all. And he realized he was biting his own lip imagining Zhou Mi’s mouth slanting over his.

All it would take would be getting up on a knee, winding an arm around Zhou Mi’s neck. Crawling onto Zhou Mi’s thighs, and—

“At least it doesn’t look like a fabric store threw up in here,” Zhou Mi joked, startling Kyuhyun from his thoughts.

“Yeah, it looks better. Want to watch TV?”

Zhou Mi paused a moment, staring at the unfinished cloth in his hands.

“Sure,” he said.

It was almost time for Zhou Mi to feed, and they arranged themselves for it. His arm, in Zhou Mi’s hands. Zhou Mi carefully ranged against him. He fell asleep in the middle of the feed, and the middle of the show. Waking only to find Zhou Mi asleep as well, head still in Kyuhyun’s lap. He lifted his draping arm a little, brushing the edge of his thumb over Zhou Mi’s chin. How pretty that profile was. What chance was there, even, that Zhou Mi would want him. Some guy Zhou Mi probably would never have picked in a million years making his life hell. Okay, maybe not totally hell. But if Zhou Mi had been lonely, and it was obvious he had been, anything short of a total asshole probably would’ve been appreciated. And of all the things Kyuhyun considered himself to be, that wasn’t it. Maybe he hadn’t handled everything perfectly, or been nice enough, or whatever. But it wasn’t like he was rolling in agony and wishing he didn’t have to go home every night. Having this guy who laughed at his jokes, and occasionally hugged him, and turned him on. Who could talk about any sort of thing with a decent amount of intelligence and understanding. And if Zhou Mi didn’t know, he wanted to look it up, barking out facts at Kyuhyun like they were gemstones unexpectedly found on a beach.

He tried to tangentially add sex into that equation. Friendly sex. Hot sex. Shower sex. Morning sex. Sex after feeding. Sex during feeding. He tried to imagine that warmth flushing him as Zhou Mi stroked him. He’d have been tempted to call up an ex, see if he was free, use him to get off. But for some reason he thought Zhou Mi would probably be able to smell it on him. And given the meltdown of the last time, when Zhou Mi was unhappy just because a guy had implied something to Kyuhyun? Sleeping with someone was probably not really a good plan. And he’d promised. But if Zhou Mi had wants, too, how long did they go before they said screw it, and slept together just because that was their only option? Might as well, because years went by? He didn’t want to wait years for sex, but then again, he didn’t want to bring it up himself, either.

They could have sex, and then part as friends. No more smiles or a gangly man trying to burrow his face into Kyuhyun’s thigh.

“I don’t know what you want,” he said out loud, and almost flushed. He could’ve been talking about anything. Food. TV. Sex. Would Zhou Mi want him to live there, after? Did they create a little comfortable world, where they weren’t dependent on each other, but chose to stay around each other anyway? He could still be a companion. It just made sex look even stupider, if that was what he wanted for them.

A month ago he wouldn’t have wavered when he asked himself that. Was that what he wanted? Of course it was. Of course. His own life. His own everything. That was what he wanted, what he’d always wanted. He just had to remember that. But he didn’t wake Zhou Mi, or move him. Just let him sleep with a hand on Kyuhyun’s arm, and his head on Kyuhyun’s thigh. Hopefully with good dreams.

***

Zhou Mi was multitasking, in the way he liked best. Soft music on, the news being piped through the TV, and a favorite novel in his hands. Kyuhyun was in the bedroom folding socks, not that he made it his goal in life to know where Kyuhyun was every second he was at home. He just knew because Kyuhyun had gone sailing by moments earlier, trailing a couple of socks behind him. Of course, he could have made use of the very handy basket that sat on top of the dryer for just such an occasion, but Kyuhyun clearly preferred the more challenging route. And his laughter had only gotten him one middle finger as Kyuhyun had come back to pick up the stragglers.

He’d almost tuned out the news entirely when he heard the word _bite_. The term had his eyes flickering up, initially expecting something about a dog, perhaps. Instead it was wounds on the neck of what looked to be a dead person. A very badly photographed bite.

“Kyuhyun, come here!” he called, reaching for the remote to turn up the TV.

“Officials say there is no confirmed cause of death, and the only clues they have found are the two strange puncture wounds. The Office of Vampire Affairs declined to comment, but in their official release to the public, people were assured that no vampire could have killed a person like this without also killing themselves. Is it a new type of vampire suicide? We go live to coverage at—“

Zhou Mi hit the mute button, not caring what kind of eyewitness they had found.

“You thinking what I am?” Kyuhyun asked, his toes tapping in excitement or interest, one. “One of those originator vampires that researcher thought existed?”

“Yes. That town, that’s not far from where Eunhyuk lives. She seemed to think the vampires moved around, so maybe there’s a chance he might see or hear something.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

Zhou Mi put the phone on speaker, in case Eunhyuk really did have some news. Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun knew of each other well enough by then that it wasn’t exactly a mystery. And after greetings, and letting Eunhyuk know that Kyuhyun was also listening, they got to the meat of the subject.

“Did you see the news from the city today? It seems you have a vampire near you who killed a person. It’s the first we’ve seen on the news about something like this.”

“I heard about it this afternoon. Do you think they made a mistake?”

“I know they didn’t talk about exsanguination, but it’s so close to you. I know I sent you all the information that researcher had, but obviously we still don’t know if finding these supposed vampires is going to do anything to help us learn about the blood bond or not.”

There was a thoughtful sound from the other end of the line. “I know you’re trying to still break the bond, but do you know if you even could? Like with humans and scarring? You have to get help within a certain amount of time.”

“I think we’ve thought of just about everything,” Kyuhyun said. “But at least we’d know. And even if it didn’t help us, maybe it would someone.”

Zhou Mi heard Kyuhyun’s words, absorbed them, but stopped short of actually writing them in his heart. Sure, it _sounded_ as though Kyuhyun was possibly okay with the idea of them never being split. But he knew better. Finding it for others was a nice thought, but that was obviously after exhausting the options for themselves.

“Yeah, sure,” Eunhyuk said, laughing a little. “I’ll call around to some people I know. The researcher who is here might know something. Especially if it’s close. Do you think you want to come out here if something’s up?”

“We might,” Zhou Mi said. “Call me if you find anything out, okay?”

“I will. Good night.”

The sound of the call disconnecting rang out, and then silence.

“Do you think we can actually find something out by going?” Kyuhyun asked.

“I don’t know. It could be… If I start poking around, it could be dangerous. It might be better if you stayed here.”

“If you find something out about the blood bond, and if I’m not there and we miss our shot? Besides, you need to feed.”

“I’ve never even traveled by train that far.”

Kyuhyun stood, and shrugged. “Then we try and do most of our travel at night, and I’ll be with you to deflect. And we won’t even know until Eunhyuk calls back. We started this together.”

Like it or not. But he met the high five that Kyuhyun offered. They started it together, and if there was an end to be found, they’d finish it together as well.

***


	6. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

Even with the time had passed, they’d been cooling their heels. After the first semi-informative meeting with a researcher, Zhou Mi had been enthused about meeting with others. They met with two more researchers, with Zhou Mi’s persistence. Zhou Mi wouldn’t have given up, but chasing people who were so busy seemed to be an exercise in frustration. The first man they met with was almost an instant replay of their first researcher meeting. Oh they wanted to break the blood bond? That was interesting. Too bad there wasn’t a way anyone knew, but might he be able to study them? And that was a no, thank you very much. Zhou Mi’s bemused smile had told him everything. The other man? That had almost been a joke.

Oh sure, it had started out the same. Zhou Mi explaining that they were interested in the breaking of a blood bond. And when the man admitted he wasn’t really sure that it was possible, it went into the realm of the completely unexpected. It seemed the good doctor had become fixated on studying, well. Vampire sex practices. And was quite eager to inquire as to whether a vampire’s, or Zhou Mi’s in that instance, _erectile strength_ increased during feeding. And it probably wouldn’t have been so creepy, but for the way that they had been stared at, as though the man wanted some kind of demonstration. He’d never seen Zhou Mi stand so fast, or make such a quick exit excuse. Almost towing Kyuhyun behind him like a recalcitrant child until they collapsed against each other and the walls of the elevator in horrified laughter.

“Was he going to have you demonstrate in the name of science?” Kyuhyun gasped. “Or maybe offer a place as research subject? Do you even know what he was asking?”

“You’re the only one I’ve ever fed from so it’s not like—“

Not like Zhou Mi had any experience with the sexual aspect of feeding, besides with him? Zhou Mi just shrugged, and belted out a laugh. It caught Kyuhyun in a place he hadn’t expected. Imagining Zhou Mi’s teeth engaged in his skin, moaning. Taking blood from Kyuhyun. Aroused. Obviously blood was required to attain an erection, so was that why the man had assumed Zhou Mi might get harder during a feeding. Or if there were feelings in Zhou Mi, like the ones that Kyuhyun felt even. Satisfaction and want. It had him digging his nails into his palms as they exited onto the street. The images had been far too strong. It wasn’t like it was a crime to wonder. Or want. As long as he kept that to himself.

***

Kyuhyun’s mind was blurred by numbers, the account he was working on a tricky, and murky puddle of figures. His degree wasn’t exactly in accounting, so he had a headache just making sure what was going through their system was accurate. It wasn’t like it’d make him or the company look any better if he was saying their client was making less money than they really were. Least favorite part of his job, hands down. Give him a math equation, sure, but these were spreadsheets and faxed ledger pages, and who kept ledgers anyway? It made him want to snarl.

His phone buzzed, and he glanced at it offhand. First thought was that Zhou Mi needed something, but it was Ryeowook’s name. Which was odd considering he could actually see Ryeowook out of the corner of his eye.

“Can we meet tonight after work?” the text read.

He texted back an affirmative, and sent a notice to Zhou Mi so he didn’t get a frantic call asking him where he was.

But Kyuhyun’s curiosity was piqued. Sometimes outings were planned, but to text him like that? He shook off the slightly anxious feeling, and snorted when he realized that Zhou Mi had just texted him back, asking him to pick up laundry detergent on his way home. Their lives were so fascinating. Not that Zhou Mi couldn’t go and get it himself, but it was part of their _sharing responsibilities_ agreement. If Zhou Mi was going to play washerman, then the least Kyuhyun could do was pick up supplies.

It kept him distracted until he immersed himself in his work again, at least until he was out the door. Ryeowook seemed okay, making him laugh about a former account of his that Ryeowook had taken over. The people were very nice. Very. Just scattered. Which meant Ryeowook all but had to hold their hand to get anything done.

But the conversation seemed to get more tense as they found a seat and ordered food. Ryeowook staring balefully at his plate, as Kyuhyun filled him in on some of the things that he and Zhou Mi had been doing. Getting a new organizer for the closet, ordering new books. Little things.

“Why do you tell me all those things?” Ryeowook asked softly.

He thought they were over that, to some extent. Sure maybe he told the cutest stories about Zhou Mi that he could to try and help any good feelings along in Ryeowook’s mind, but it wasn’t like he meant it to be torture. He tried to keep it to a minimum, and Ryeowook had kept so quiet about it.

“I don’t want it to upset you. He isn’t scary. You know that, right?”

“I know,” Ryeowook said. “But it just goes against anything I’ve ever told myself. To think of him touching you.”

It almost sounded like jealousy for a moment, but Kyuhyun, by the shudder, knew it was revulsion. Like Ryeowook couldn’t comprehend how Kyuhyun could _let_ Zhou Mi touch him. Feed from him.

“Did your parents tell you bad stories about vampires when you were little? Some horror movie? Is there a reason? Maybe we can do something to change it.”

Ryeowook was breathing hard, his stare blank and fixed somewhere at Kyuhyun’s chest. “I— I can’t even say it.”

It peaked his worry and protectiveness all at once. “Hey, it’s okay.”

But Ryeowook shook his head. “You need to know. It’s why I wanted to meet you tonight. I waited too long to tell you. I— I was bitten by a vampire when I was a child.”

Kyuhyun gaped at him. “Wait. So you’re blood bonded? But why didn’t—“

“ _No,_ ” Ryeowook insisted. “There was no “blood bond” or whatever you want to call it. It was just horrible.”

“But that’s not possible. If a vampire bites—“ If a vampire bit a human, there was a blood bond. If a vampire didn’t feed, it meant death. He paused, eyes widening as his brain raced. Going back to the first researcher, Eunhyuk’s rumors, the news on the TV. The theory about a progenitor vampire race, one that could bite without repercussions. If it was true, then that might answer Ryeowook’s past. But they had no proof. He almost wanted to run out the door to tell Zhou Mi about it, see if Zhou Mi thought he was totally off his rocker. Certainly without more information, Ryeowook had no reason to believe him. Instead, he took a breath and calmed himself, smiling in the most comforting way he knew how. Suddenly he understood why Ryeowook hadn’t believed him when Kyuhyun had told him that Zhou Mi could only feed from one person.

“Whatever happened to you, Zhou Mi is nothing like that. He couldn’t bite others, even if he wanted to. He’s pretty stuck with me.”

“Even if that’s right, it’s still hard,” Ryeowook said, still not looking up at him. “I didn’t even get to see what the vampire looked like. I was walking home from school, and then it was biting me. I woke up in a hospital. They’d had to transfuse me. I can still feel where it— It bit.”

“So it - he or she - deliberately left you alive? If you were a kid— I don’t know. It might’ve been easy to kill you. That’s something?”

“All I know is I had nightmares for years. And they started coming back, after— After you told us. I can pretend if you don’t talk about it. You were so adamant that it was temporary, but I don’t know.”

And he realized that in talking about Zhou Mi, he’d been hurting Ryeowook more than he’d ever expected. Stirring up old wounds. “I haven’t meant to upset you you. We’re still looking for a way to break the bond, so Zhou Mi and I won’t be stuck together any more.”

“I thought— I know you were researching, but I thought…?” Ryeowook seemed confused but when Kyuhyun looked up at him, he shook his head. “Never mind.”

“What?” he pressed. “What are you talking about?”

“It just, with all your stories, you started sounding less like you really wanted to get away from him. That’s all.”

“Why…” he started laughing, and it kind of petered out when he realized that Ryeowook wasn’t trying to make a joke. “What reason would I have to stay?”

“You talk about him differently, differently that you ever have about any of our friends or people you’ve dated,” Ryeowook said carefully. “That’s why I thought that.”

Kyuhyun was nonplussed. Had he not been paying attention to their conversations? “We haven’t wanted anything but to end this. Since I woke up and figured out what had happened. Nothing has changed.”

“So you would walk away and never see him again?”

Kyuhyun opened his mouth to agree, to say emphatically that all his ties were nothing special, that Zhou Mi could be gone and he’d be glad to have his life back. And the only image his brain supplied was that of Zhou Mi curled up in Kyuhyun’s armchair, a heavy book slipping down his chest, and his mouth parted in sleep. He’d wanted to drip water on Zhou Mi’s face that day, try to see how rudely he could wake him. But all he’d done was laugh to himself, and pull his computer closer, and try to pretend the next hour that he wasn’t sort of keeping watch. He’d have fought anyone who called Zhou Mi a monster. He tried to imagine some man, some woman, approaching Zhou Mi. Flirting with him. Zhou Mi’s smile flashing, eyes soft. As though Kyuhyun had never existed to him.

And he realized he was clutching his own hair with one hand, distress and anger all but leaking from him.

“Kyuhyun?” Ryeowook asked, concerned.

“Nothing has changed,” he repeated, and drank his beer. He had go on believing that.

***

The temporary excitement that Kyuhyun had felt after hearing Ryeowook say he had been bitten by a vampire but not bonded had faded in the wake of their conversation. How uncomfortable and afraid Ryeowook had been. It was exciting in regards to how it fit into what they had spent so long looking for, but not in that it was his friend who had been hurt. Still, he told Zhou Mi about it as he had put away the fabric detergent. He’d made sure that it was all right with Ryeowook that he shared the story, and Zhou Mi’s face told the tale of regret for him. That Ryeowook had gone through that. Empathy, because even if it wasn’t the same as what they had been through, it was still a child who had been terribly frightened.

“No wonder,” Zhou Mi murmured. “Nothing I said would have changed his mind.”

“And I’d been telling him stories about things we did like some kind of idiot, just reminding him.”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” Zhou Mi said, trying to reassure him. “You thought you were trying to ease his fear, not trying to bring him pain. And even if he was scared, at least he does have those small impressions. Maybe something good stuff from all of that.”

Maybe. But he just shrugged. “You can tell Eunhyuk about it. It’s so old, there isn’t any information. But maybe he or that researcher will find it useful.”

“Of course.” Zhou Mi paused, offering a smile. “Want to play a game later?”

Trying to cheer him. Kyuhyun chuckled, and pivoted for the kitchen. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

The game had loosened him, just as his snack had. Getting to reason with himself. Ryeowook hadn’t abandoned him, even though he probably had reason to. That showed a lot of strength in Ryeowook himself. If they hadn’t broken off their friendship yet, then they still had a shot. And Ryeowook’s words, pointing out to him how different he talked about Zhou Mi, he definitely squashed back into his mind as he tried to clean up after himself.

Him going back into the bathroom while Zhou Mi showered wasn’t unusual. Unless they were actually naked, the shower was completely private, and he’d peeked out to see Zhou Mi slathering stuff on his face more than once. Fully clothed, of course. Normally the water turning off was hint enough that they should vacate. He was brushing his teeth, content after a hot shower and a relaxing run, when he heard the shower door squeak.

“Oh, Kyuhyun. While you’re there, do you see the scrubby wash cloth on the counter? I washed it and forgot to bring it back.”

“Yeah, I got it,” he said. And the scrubby cloth as Zhou Mi had put it, was bright yellow with the impression of a rubber duck on it. Yes. Super, ridiculously cute.

And when he thought back over his mistake, he hadn’t had too many options. The top of the shower stall met the ceiling, so he couldn’t have just passed it over. He could have just stood and waited for Zhou Mi to stick a hand out, and preserved his eyes.

But what he did do. To the chagrin of all his sanity, was slide open the sliding, opaque glass door, intending to hold out the cloth. He had no overt intentions of actually looking. The fact that Zhou Mi was turned away from him sort of tossed that out the window. Zhou Mi, bent forward just slightly to rinse his hair, the curve of his thighs, ass, his spine and ribs, drawing Kyuhyun along like a tow rope. A stick. And yet. Not. But by the time the draft, if not the sound, alerted Zhou Mi to Kyuhyun’s presence, his eyes were firmly above Zhou Mi’s shoulders. Even if all of Kyuhyun’s blood was suddenly far below his own.

“Here,” he said, as though he was impatient, and Zhou Mi reached back to grab the yellow cloth from him with a surprised word of thanks. With long, wet fingers. Not turning enough to show off anything else that Kyuhyun was interested in, not that Kyuhyun would have looked if he had. Or anything. He slid the door back closed, and walked out of the room like some kind of zombie.

Okay. Okay. Getting aroused without all the feelings he got while Zhou Mi was feeding was absolutely out of the question. Sure, anyone with a functioning eyeball could see that Zhou Mi was attractive. Maybe the first glance made him look like a bit of a stick, but there was some definite shape to that body. The muscles were just lean, that was all. And maybe he had the nicest jawline that Kyuhyun remembered seeing in a while, but that didn’t have bearing on anything else. He just adjusted his pants and stalked out of the bedroom, focused on getting himself distracted and under control. A cold shower clearly wasn’t an option, since it was occupied.

Unfortunately the only thought in his head that wasn’t vague was the thought of him stepping into that shower and feeling all of that skin for himself. Clearly it had been too long since he’d gotten laid, when he was doing that much fantasizing about Zhou Mi. Who wouldn’t, when he was the closest option. Not to mention, yes, hot, and for all intents and purposes married to Kyuhyun. And the physical aspects of that union were definitely supposed to be part of the perks.

_Hey, Zhou Mi, want to have sex with me since we’ll be together forever, even though we’re trying to figure out if there’s a way to not be together forever?_

Zhou Mi would probably sew barbed wire into the latest pants he was fixing up for Kyuhyun. And Zhou Mi hadn’t even fed that night, yet. He breathed out a slow breath, trying not to shudder. As long as he could keep himself together. Maybe if he was watching TV, and not in bed with nothing to distract him. Maybe that would help.

Zhou Mi folded himself into the couch beside Kyuhyun, a cup of tea at the ready. It didn’t require words, Kyuhyun offering his arm, and Zhou Mi cupping it. And the mouth against his arm was warmer than usual, due to the tea.

“Is that tea with a side of blood, or the other way around?” he murmured.

Zhou Mi’s eyes laughed at him, and the sight of it was uncomfortable. He told himself it was just because Zhou Mi’s mouth was still engaged on his arm, but he had a feeling about that. He occasionally wondered if he was supposed to feel disgusted, revolted, sickened, by the thought that Zhou Mi was ingesting his blood. Partly helpful that at least he couldn’t see the blood going from him to Zhou Mi. Not like that first time. Maybe that first time was supposed to have scarred him, and his stomach did flinch a little at the thought of it, but seriously? The pleasant feelings helped to keep too many of those questions at bay. When an action was a comfort, it was hard to call it a trial. And it had happened far too quickly.

***

Saturday night was movie night, almost without fail. Sometimes there was something on TV they wanted, or they found something online, or Kyuhyun unearthed something from his collection. It wasn’t like it was any different than any other TV night. Kyuhyun either on the couch or in his armchair, with his laptop in his lap. And Zhou Mi finding a comfortable place wherever. Sometimes he fed as they watched, or was content just to relax after a day of sewing. But that night, they’d gone for another run, puffing back up the stairs and showering. Kyuhyun choosing a sports-themed movie, and settling with a bowl of some kind of chips. He almost wished he had something to gnaw on himself, as the movie progressed. Tension mounting and dreams in jeopardy.

Kyuhyun whooped at the television, laughing at the movie as the sports team made their victory dance. Hugging and cheering, all their hard work, with luck and belief, paying off. After such a long journey. He turned to laugh at Kyuhyun’s excitement, when he realized that Kyuhyun’s eyes were wet, a telltale streak down one cheekbone. And as the credits rolled, he drew up onto both knees, edging closer to Kyuhyun.

“I thought the movie made you happy,” he asked

“It did,” Kyuhyun said, lifting his hand to dab at his face. “Sometimes things are just really emotional and happy, so the tears just come.”

He caught Kyuhyun’s hand, able to smell the tiny droplet of moisture clinging there. It was salty to his tongue, and tasted of Kyuhyun. With his thumb, he smoothed more moisture away, licking it from his own skin as Kyuhyun watched curiously.

“Is that a different kind of meal?” Kyuhyun asked, the sound of the question wry in the soft voice.

“No, it’s just—“

How would it taste, right from Kyuhyun’s skin? He leaned closer, lips so close to Kyuhyun’s cheek. Kyuhyun jerked, their noses brushing. And suddenly the scent of Kyuhyun’s tears wasn’t nearly as distracting as that face So close that Zhou Mi could nearly taste his mouth. A mystery even he had not dared to test himself on.

“What?” Kyuhyun uttered, as though confused, and Zhou Mi felt the tiny puff of air that accompanied it against his lips. He couldn’t do that to himself.

He nearly stumbled, but he made it to his feet, leaving Kyuhyun’s warmth behind.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t going for your neck.”

He chained himself to the sewing machine, the rhythmic chug of it helping to distract him. He made very sure that Kyuhyun was in bed and asleep before crawling in himself. He hadn’t fed enough, but he let the vague ache of hunger remind him of what he wasn’t allowed. How easy it would have been to press Kyuhyun back into the plush couch, and feel those lips part for him. He licked his lips only to imagine the taste of Kyuhyun. Sweet, solid, irresistible. And could he have stopped himself? Or would he next would have wanted to lick the sweat from Kyuhyun’s stomach, to taste the inside of his thigh. The blood so rich there, heady. To trace his finger through fine whorls of hair, and—

It was a torture he was damned to, to lay in that bed night after night. To smell Kyuhyun so close and listen to his breathing. To see all those thing so clearly in his mind, close enough to touch, and never know them. And he couldn’t leave, sleep out on the couch, or risk chilling Kyuhyun to the bone.

Sometimes he wished that affliction on himself instead.

But he did turn to face Kyuhyun. It was not an exercise to hurt himself, but to comfort. Feeling the warmth of Kyuhyun’s presence flush over his arms and face. Not close enough to touch, just to barely feel. He all but willed himself into sleep, with a last sound of distress to guide him.

***

And in the dark, Kyuhyun’s eyes opened, searching for an answer he could not find.

***

Heat against his mouth. He dreamed of it. Brief seconds of Zhou Mi close to him. An accident. That was all it had been. Just an accident. Brown eyes suddenly wide and on his, and that puff of air, an exhale that had him reflexively asking a stupid _what_. What? Or why. Why Zhou Mi’s face was that close, why Kyuhyun’s whole body had frozen, why his first thought hadn’t been to shove Zhou Mi away, but to actually think _oh, he’s finally going to kiss me._ Everything had been just right. Eyes so close to dipping closed and angling in.

And Zhou Mi had seemed to think that Kyuhyun had been worried. Maybe he was a little skittish about his neck, but it wasn’t like Zhou Mi was haranguing him about it. Zhou Mi didn’t seem to mind one way or the other, as long as he was getting fed. But if he could imagine that mouth on his, it wasn’t much of a journey to imagine it on his neck. His head actually curled into his pillow imagining it. Languid warmth, the wet of Zhou Mi’s mouth. Hands at his waist. And his own hands, where did he even want them? Zhou Mi’s shoulders? Neck? Teasing Zhou Mi’s ears and waiting for that head to raise for a kiss.

He couldn’t have imagined Zhou Mi’s reaction. It was impossible. The look in his eyes then, or when Zhou Mi had been so close after their run. Those strained looks he sometimes got after a feeding. It was insane, but was it really?

He wanted to roll over and shake Zhou Mi awake and ask. Was he wanted, or was he just imagining it. Maybe anyone would look appealing. But he didn’t think so. The plan he thought of wasn’t exactly brilliant. But he’d get an answer either way.

***

Zhou Mi droused at the breakfast table over his tea, blinking up as Kyuhyun cleared his throat.

“Which shirt today, do you think?”

Zhou Mi looked from one shirt, to the other. And got caught in between. Pale line of sternum and stomach. He stared at the shadows overlaying Kyuhyun’s belly button, and had to set down his tea cup. The shirt. Kyuhyun was asking which shirt. He pointed blindly at the cream one, and blinked up at Kyuhyun.

“I— This one?”

It seemed like the answer, to Kyuhyun was almost unexpected. He got a nod for his effort, and watched Kyuhyun walk away in nothing but his work slacks. Bare, pale feet. Bare, beautiful back. He fisted a hand on his thigh and considered trying to scald himself to keep his body in check. But Kyuhyun had been grabbing his lunch and cheerfully calling a goodbye. Maybe jerking off at the table wasn’t exactly the smartest option, but washing his shirt was small price to pay for imagining Kyuhyun sitting on the table in front of him, and and hearing Kyuhyun moan as Zhou Mi sucked him.

It took the edge off of his wanting, anyway.

And he didn’t even really notice the pattern, not at first. If he had any stray thought, it was that Kyuhyun was getting more comfortable with him. And absolutely, that was great. But Kyuhyun coming out of the bathroom, attempting to strike up a conversation with him, in nothing but a towel?

Zhou Mi had sat, ever so casually, ever so purposefully, with his knees up and a sheet over him. And really, honestly tried to pretend he was examining his nails or something like it. It worked for all of a minute.

“So I’m meeting with Ryeowook again tomorrow, but let me know if you need anything when I come home?”

Kyuhyun sat on the bed, nearly on his feet in fact. The sound Zhou Mi had made had been foreign to his own ears, and then Kyuhyun had rested his forearm on Zhou Mi’s drawn up knees. And when Zhou Mi looked, he could see _Kyuhyun’s_ knees. And a section of thigh, due to the split of the towel. And long calves that were still a bit damp with their dark hair.

And the gape in the towel lurched as Kyuhyun shifted, and Kyuhyun was talking about _needing_ things, and Zhou Mi was struggling to remember how to breathe.

“I don’t think I— No, you can just come back,” Zhou Mi finally got out.

“You feeling okay?” Kyuhyun asked. And those legs straightened, and Zhou Mi’s eyes shot upward, catching around Kyuhyun’s collarbones. And then there were fingers against his face. “You sound kind of out of it. Can you even get sick?”

“I never have gotten sick. Tired?”

He sounded as rational as a drunk goose. And there was that chest. Right there.

Zhou Mi cleared his throat. “Really, I’m fine. Thanks for worrying.”

“I guess you can’t have all the fun.”

All he’d done when Kyuhyun had had a cold was offer tissues and soup. He wasn’t sure how walking around in a towel compared.

And he swore his eyes didn’t go to Kyuhyun’s waist, where a hand was stabilizing the towel. He was pretty sure he was hoping the thing didn’t drop, because the thought of it launching a thousand fantasies was at war with sanity. He flipped off his bedside light, and found a very useful position on his stomach. Hearing every unfortunate sound as Kyuhyun dressed and climbed into bed. Kyuhyun’s sighs, and the rustles. Each one took on a more sexual tone. Until everything was quiet and still.

And he woke with Kyuhyun’s hand far too close to him. There to all but reach out and lick. Bite.

Kyuhyun was trying to kill him, he reasoned. That was the only logical explanation. Killing with lust seemed a fairly slow-acting poison, but it was working.

The soft sounds Kyuhyun made as Zhou Mi bit him, the way Kyuhyun’s lips pressed to his drink bottle. The way he’d tilt his head and look at Zhou Mi from under his lashes. He didn’t even think it could be deliberate or orchestrated.

Though he’d been very glad that he wasn’t able to injure himself, when he’d had a firsthand view of water dribbling past one, exquisite nipple. He wasn’t even sure what Kyuhyun had come to ask him. Were they out of shampoo? He wasn’t sure exactly how to go about hiding it from Kyuhyun. Not the shampoo, his feelings. If there was more nakedness to be had, more of Kyuhyun’s butt being framed in a towel, he had no idea how he was supposed to just pretend he didn’t see. And how to make it stop? Not look?

_Hey Kyuhyun, please stop walking around half naked, because I’ve been having an erection problem._

A not so tiny and invisible problem, that his body only too kindly suggested that Kyuhyun could fix.

***


	7. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

It didn’t matter how long Zhou Mi had lived, how many men he’d been attracted to, how much lust he’d had to soothe away. Having a man in his house, his bed, his space was totally different than admiring someone’s face on a TV show, or on the street. A crush with a side of lust, that was one thing. A naked Kyuhyun sighing around was another. Okay. Mostly naked. Partly naked. With a bare neck? Seeing Kyuhyun in only a towel wasn’t the beginning of his want, but it certainly wasn’t the end of it. And he was a big boy, he knew how to take care of all his little problems on his own. Preferably he’d have talked himself down from it. He didn’t need to be perpetually turned on.

Even as the week went by and he found himself in the shower every morning after Kyuhyun went to work. And possibly a couple times before he’d climbed into bed beside Kyuhyun, as well. Lust? It didn’t kill anyone. But the constancy of it chafed at him, because he couldn’t rationalize it away. If he called up Eunhyuk, what would he get? _Help, Kyuhyun is teasing me to death and I can’t take it._ Eunhyuk would probably tell him to take Kyuhyun up on his offer. As though Eunhyuk would actually do that himself.

Zhou Mi’s eyes were heavy as he followed Kyuhyun into their bedroom. They had been relaxing by the TV as Zhou Mi fed. So careful not to touch more than he needed, which was a change that was distasteful to him. Though he hardly expected Kyuhyun to notice it, considering how much attention had been paid to the TV.

“You’d think they’d send people with talent to a singing competition?” Kyuhyun complained, already in his pajamas after his shower. “I sing better than that one guy, even in the shower.”

“Maybe you should join instead,” Zhou Mi joked, ignoring even the thought of Kyuhyun and shower in the same vicinity. It wasn’t as though he had the option of snatching Kyuhyun’s towel away one day and doing whatever he wanted. Thinking Kyuhyun actually wanted it. Flirting with danger was one thing.

He tossed his shirt into the nearby hamper, pondering if he wanted to warm one up for himself in the dryer.

“I’ve heard you sing, too,” Kyuhyun said. And Zhou Mi’s whole body froze. Two hands, Kyuhyun’s, planted in his lower back. Against his skin. As buzzing warm and full of life as anything that had ever touched him. “You said some vampires did music, right? Did you ever think of that?”

Another test, he thought, hand gripping his dresser. Another tease. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun was groping his crotch, just hands on his back and leaning into him. Sad how close the two equated in his mind.

“I guess. I didn’t really consider it too much. I like what I do.”

Stumbling words. As jerky as his insides were to have Kyuhyun’s chin almost on his shoulder.

“Maybe someday then. Where did you get that postcard on the wall?” Kyuhyun asked.

Maybe the conversation was just pretense for the touch. How many times had Kyuhyun stood behind him not touching, feeling that prickle of awareness. He could lean into that touch, asking Kyuhyun to bear his weight. Or in all likelihood, he’d end up on his butt with Kyuhyun laughing at him. At least shutting the drawer gave him the precious inches he needed to ease away, if only slightly.

“Eunhyuk sent it. He likes to keep me—“

The edge of Kyuhyun’s hip landed against his, and his skin ghosted cold, then hot. Those eyes steady and guileless as Kyuhyun waited for an answer. He knew why it was so easy to see himself turning, wrapping around Kyuhyun. It wasn’t the blood that called for him, but something else. The chasm between his needs and sanity trembling like a rope that had frayed too far. The bed was so close, they could have fallen together. Kyuhyun over him, beneath him.

But it was Kyuhyun’s hand on the back of his arm that undid all his defenses. Kyuhyun had no idea that it was not nakedness that weaseled through most easily, made him want, but touch. If Kyuhyun was warm with fingers against his arm, how warm would he be, chest to chest? Legs entwined, Kyuhyun’s face against his neck. He was weak to all of it. And he couldn’t want it.

And he knew exactly what he was doing as he slowly exhaled, looking from the bright tropical picture on the wall, to the man beside him. “Why are you doing this?”

The hand against his arm was snatched away.

“What?” Kyuhyun asked.

“This. The touching, walking around with only a towel on.” Zhou Mi couldn’t even put words to what he thought that Kyuhyun might be doing. Or how it scrambled his head. “I don’t know if it’s fun for you, if you want to make me uncomfortable. I don’t know.”

Kyuhyun clearly floundered, and there was only the tiniest hint of satisfaction he felt in that. “You— You said it was a good thing if I found you hot. I mean, look at you. Most people would—“

“I don’t care how _people_ see me. They don’t share my bed.” It took no more than a second for that to sink through, he saw it all over Kyuhyun’s face, and his heart dropped. If Kyuhyun was really just playing a game, then Zhou Mi had just shown his hand far too early. “You must think I’m disgusting.”

Kyuhyun sputtered. “That you’d want the person blood bound to you to want you? I think that just makes you normal.”

“Maybe that’d be normal for a human, or a blood bond that was begun normally.”

“You are human enough to me,” Kyuhyun said.

Of all the things Kyuhyun could have said to him in that moment, that was the one he expected least. He didn’t expect it to hurt so viciously, and all but sing through him at the same time. He would have given almost anything to have Kyuhyun say those words to him, but he didn’t even know if Kyuhyun understood why it meant so much to him. He covered his face in his hand, unsure of what he was trying to hide. “Then stop teasing. I don’t know what your goal is, but it has to stop. Trying to make me want you has no point.”

“But do you? Want me?” Kyuhyun said, his hand tightening on Zhou Mi’s free arm before he could turn away.

“Why want what won’t be there long?” Zhou Mi asked him, wishing there was an actual answer.  
”  
“You don’t know how long there is. We could be stuck together the rest of—“

“It’s enough that you don’t want to be here!” He managed to free his arm from Kyuhyun’s grasping fingers. “I’m not here for you to play with.”

Kyuhyun’s face was tight, but that expression wasn’t surprising, given his words. Words Zhou Mi himself didn’t even understand, just that they came from some dark place that he wasn’t familiar with. Doubts and grievances that he kept shoving back, and back. He couldn’t get any further away from it. All Zhou Mi had left was one last plea, and it was feeble.

“Don’t push me on this, please.”

If he thought he could have moved without issue, he would have turned away. But he couldn’t because Kyuhyun was right there. The makings of a headache buzzed, and he shored himself up inside. Kyuhyun seemed to lean in, and his breath was shallow. Close enough to feel Kyuhyun’s warmth, but too far to hold. Same as always.

***

Kyuhyun’s brain wanted to deny everything. That they were having that conversation, that his teasing had backfired. It had never been innocent, no. They couldn’t just jump into bed together and think, _hey, it was a good time, even if it’s temporary, because we’re trying to never see each other again._ Could they _be_ together, and still want to get away from each other? Had he even thought for a moment that sleeping with Zhou Mi was okay, because it was temporary? He couldn’t even think of himself as that callous. Even when he’d been pretending otherwise, he’d known there was the possibility of hurt. They were two people, not two rocks. But Zhou Mi had gotten it all wrong.

“Look, it’s not as simple as all that, okay?” Kyuhyun said. Not as simple as him not wanting to be there any more. Or not wanting Zhou Mi. All of it. “It’s complicated. It’s not the same as it was. It used to be so black and white. I don’t even—“

Maybe the teasing had been selfish, but it had clearly struck a nerve. And he realized he’d been going about it all wrong. It wasn’t just that Zhou Mi might _want_ him. It wasn’t about sex, or using each other, or how short term it might be. Any couple tried each other out before committing. With dates, kisses, even sex. There was no guarantee before starting all of that, that it would last forever.

How did Zhou Mi want to keep him, if he didn’t even know what Kyuhyun kissed like? He swallowed, and made sure that Zhou Mi was still listening.

“You’re wrong about me not wanting you. Or I wouldn’t have even tried— I wasn’t trying to play you, okay?” he said, stepping closer and watching Zhou Mi inhale. He wanted those eyes dark for him, as he grasped Zhou Mi’s arms. Could Zhou Mi want him? Zhou Mi hadn’t denied it. And it wasn’t as though Kyuhyun was subtle, leaning in close enough to feel Zhou Mi’s breath. Like that moment they had shared on the couch, close enough to touch. Watching Zhou Mi’s eyelids flutter. _Inevitable_. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t desired.

The sound from Zhou Mi’s throat as their lips touched sounded too close to pained. And he pressed closer, Zhou Mi meeting him almost desperately. How many times had he stared at that mouth and wondered how it would feel against his. Warm, soft, firm. A tremble there that he hadn’t expected and a stiffness. He wanted to taste, but before he could, Zhou Mi broke away, panting toward his chest, Kyuhyun’s hands caught in both of his to the point of pain.

“Hey,” he said, trying to squeeze Zhou Mi’s fingers. “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Mi shook his head, and clutched Kyuhyun’s fingers tighter. Almost seeming like he was struggling for air for a moment. His shoulders straightening as he raised his face. Kyuhyun wasn’t sure what to expect. Anger? Want? He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, even if he couldn’t quite keep his eyes away from Zhou Mi’s mouth for the first few moments.

“Why now?” Zhou Mi asked.

Everyone who had ever been with Zhou Mi had played him. Made him wary. Broken his trust. But he wasn’t that guy. He wasn’t trying to use Zhou Mi. And he wasn’t sure why he was so happy to be able to think that and be completely sure.

Kyuhyun just wanted him.

“Why ever? Nothing has a guarantee. I don’t have all the answers. Can you trust me?” he asked, lifting Zhou Mi’s hand and leaning into as their eyes met again. And when Zhou Mi seemed reluctant, Kyuhyun played just the slightest bit dirty. “Do you want to trust me?”

He backed onto the bed first, eyes still on Zhou Mi’s. No overtures. No sexual display. Just climbing into their bed as he’d done a hundred times. Zhou Mi’s fingers were still tight around his, and he could have written a book describing the tilt of Zhou Mi’s eyebrows and the faint frown that marred that mouth. He kissed the confusion from that face as Zhou Mi settled beside him. Barely touching at all, but with their tangled fingers, and the hand he cupped Zhou Mi’s face with.

He had to wrench his fingers from Zhou Mi’s chin so that they lips could meet more fully. He had to calm himself mentally, try not to charge ahead and ask for what neither of them were ready for.

“Zhou Mi,” he murmured. It was the only name, the only face, inside him. And there was an exquisite rightness to sighing it where both of them could hear. After all, there was only one person in the bed with him, and that man had sighed at the sound of his own name. And he answered in turn, as Zhou Mi’s fingers slid against his face.

The sounds that Zhou Mi made ghosted along his skin. The way that their lips dragged together, the press of Zhou Mi’s nose against his face. The little moans against his fingertips, swallows that moved skin, and sighs. Sounds that from Zhou Mi he had begun to associate with pure…pleasure. Because it was what he heard during a feed as Zhou Mi stroked his skin with tongue and fingers. Eating, of course, could be enjoyable. Even sensual. Zhou Mi thought kissing him was equal to that? Or was he reading too much into it. But it sent heat flushing up his face.

Zhou Mi let his head relax, parting them slightly. And Kyuhyun met his eyes with as much steadiness as he could muster.

“That was nice,” Kyuhyun murmured to him, groaning as Zhou Mi sat up. Bathroom-bound, he assumed. But the loss of warmth was still a blow. Zhou Mi patted the hand closest to him.

“It is doubtful you will need it, after the blood bond is broken.”

Kyuhyun gaped as Zhou Mi stood. The fluid, naked column of his back almost blinding as he walked away. Literally, and Kyuhyun wondered, emotionally, too? Wanting Zhou Mi was natural. But he hadn’t been thinking of how to _end_ them while kissing Zhou Mi.

Perhaps it was Zhou Mi’s fear talking. Thinking that it was Kyuhyun’s only goal, to get away, because Kyuhyun had never said differently. It confused him so much when he let himself think about it, because that was what he should want. What they’d been working toward. But he caught the profile of that face, as Zhou Mi turned off the bathroom light. Limbs gently moving. It felt like an escape hatch, more than anything. In case they couldn’t get along, they had options right? But it wasn’t like they had to exercise them. Because they’d have a choice. They’d finally have a choice.

Zhou Mi climbed back into bed, and Kyuhyun hesitated only a moment. Rolling close enough to mold himself to Zhou Mi’s back. Settling an arm over Zhou Mi’s ribs and warming him. Zhou Mi almost seemed to shudder because of it, and Kyuhyun held tighter. He was almost afraid to breathe, the words leaving him awkwardly.

“Like you said, there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever find something,” Kyuhyun told him, twining their fingers together.

And the voice that answered him was soft. “I know how important it is to you. I’ll never give up looking.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

And he believed that. He did.

***

Kyuhyun woke the next morning with what turned out to be Zhou Mi’s hand squished underneath his back. He couldn’t even move for a minute, eyes squeezed closed as he played the night before in his mind. Falling asleep against Zhou Mi’s back. The kisses. Any other time and he’d have been laughing at himself for making a big deal out of what wasn’t even an actual make-out session. But Zhou Mi wasn’t exactly some stranger he’d picked up in a bar. He grimaced, seeing that Zhou Mi was still asleep, mouth slack, and rolled away when he sort of wanted to roll closer. He wasn’t sure how many would call him the cuddly type, but the idea of not having to get up and just lazing in bed had a certain appeal.

Though he didn’t quite get his alarm turned off before it went off, and the bed jerked as Zhou Mi woke with it.

Unusual in itself, because Zhou Mi was often up with the sun, and very rarely had to be startled out of sleep by Kyuhyun’s unforgiving alarm.

“I’m up,” he said, as though that was some consolation. “Go back to sleep.”

He just had to get his hair somewhat presentable, wash up a little. Change. Breakfast. Either cold cereal or hot. He rarely had time for something more complicated, even when Zhou Mi was the one making it for him. By the time he’d got his socks on, there was a bowl of steaming cereal and a plate of cut fruit waiting for him on the table, and a cup of coffee besides that.

“You didn’t have to get up, but thanks,” he said, glancing at the clock to see exactly how much time he had to eat. Ten minutes. Not bad. Zhou Mi and his teacup settled into the seat across from him, but that didn’t weird Kyuhyun out after all the time they’d spent together.

“Anything exciting at work today?” Zhou Mi asked.

“More work,” he joked, washing down the oatmeal with the finally cool enough coffee. “Not really. You?”

“Sewing a skirt for commission. It’s cut so it won’t take long.”

“Good.” Right. Very good. Zhou Mi would sew, and he would save the workplace with a computer, and then what. “So tonight we can— After I get off work?”

He realized he hadn’t actually said anything. Not like _and we can talk after I get back, you know, about the kissing_. And all the weird emotional stuff. And stuff. But Zhou Mi didn’t press him on the weirdness of it.

There was that moment of uncertainty after he got his shoes on. Because as Zhou Mi handed him his briefcase, he wasn’t sure what to do. Go for a kiss? Which would be awkward, given how they’d fallen asleep. It wasn’t like they’d talked through that part of it. He settled on taking the bag with a smile.

“See you later. Text if you need anything when I come home.”

“I will. Have a good day,” Zhou Mi told him.

“Yeah. You too.”

He kind of muttered thanks behind him, and clattered down the stairs. That pensive look on Zhou Mi’s face kind of bugged him. It wasn’t like anything had really changed. The apartment was still home to him, and Zhou Mi was still blood bound to him. And they had been working off of that for a while.

***

The day passed as it usually did. Staff meeting. Phone calls that all but had him wheezing into his desk drawer for patience. Tossing things at Ryeowook’s head when he was ignored.

And the down time. Playing back their conversations. How often did he actually think of Zhou Mi as a vampire anymore? Not that he forgot about it, but it was like Zhou Mi had an extra finger or something. He was special because of what he could do, but like Zhou Mi had said, it didn’t define him. There was more to Zhou Mi, to Kyuhyun, than the bites. There was the laughter, and the teasing, and Zhou Mi’s warmth when he fell asleep. The things he did for Kyuhyun, not just in terms of laundry or cleaning, but brightening his mood and chasing away the loneliness he hadn’t understood he’d had. Just hearing Zhou Mi’s voice singing somewhere in the apartment, or fighting over the TV, or bargaining who had to scrub the toilet. The way a look made him flush, and the tilt of long fingers made him want to touch.

All those moments, those flashes of jealousy. The way Zhou Mi protected him. It was obvious to anyone who had half a brain that Zhou Mi was treating him as he would a mate, a partner. All they were missing was the intimacy. Buying him that game, so they could spend more time together, face to face, interacting. Zhou Mi pushing forward with the research on how to break the blood bond in his free time.

Was Zhou Mi treating him as a mate, because he felt he had to in the short term, or had it come to the point where Zhou Mi didn’t want it broken at all? If it was shades of gray for Zhou Mi, then loosing himself from this human pest might’ve been pretty far removed. But for Zhou Mi to want him forever, to tie the rest of his life to Kyuhyun’s? His brain couldn’t even grasp it.

He daydreamed, standing close to Zhou Mi, urging him to kiss him.

_“Do you want this, because—“ Zhou Mi stopped. The conflicted expression had Kyuhyun’s stomach twisting._

_“Because what?” he urged, unable to be patient._

_“Because I’m a vampire.”_

_Zhou Mi, asking him if he wanted to kiss him because he was a vampire? If he was that stupid, that shallow, why would he have waited? Why not just seduce Zhou Mi right at the start, if he wanted a little thrill?_

_“Do you want this because I’m human?” he countered, his voice more wooden than it should have been._

_“No! Kyuhyun.” Zhou Mi’s hand broke from his, cupping Kyuhyun’s face almost roughly. “_ No _.”_

_And Zhou Mi pulled him into a kiss._

He’d only had to spent a few minutes with his head in the freezer after that. What an idiot he was. He ate his dinner walking home, changing almost as soon as he got into the apartment. He had questions, ones he’d been building up after his failed fantasy attempt. And Zhou Mi was pensive, serious, considering him as they faced each other on the couch. Apparently they both knew it was time to talk.

“What do you want?” Kyuhyun started out with. “I don’t mean from me, or this. But in general.

“What anyone wants,” Zhou Mi said, his shoulders moving. “A chance at love. A chance to have something real with someone, where the life we’ve built together doesn’t feel like it wasn’t a choice. Where sleeping with me, being with me, isn’t a prison sentence.”

As Kyuhyun had told Zhou Mi before. What any normal person would want. A partner who wanted as well. It wasn’t so shocking.

“Do you really think we could make it together? I don’t mean just existing together and trying to get along, but like everything. A real relationship.”

“Even those who choose to be together would have to have their problems,” Zhou Mi mused. “But reason to learn how to resolve differences, and yearn for each other’s happiness. But yes, I think we could. We’ve learned how to get along this far. Sometimes that’s a really hard thing.”

He snorted. “You are such an optimist. You’d be willing to give up sleeping with anyone else but me for the rest of your life?”

Zhou Mi almost froze, and he saw that since he was watching very carefully. Zhou Mi cleared his throat. “You don’t want an answer to that.”

“Why not? You don’t think that’s relevant?”

“I _could_ see you being the only one I sleep with.”

“And if I suck in bed?”

“Then we learn what to do about that, too. But you’d be okay with sleeping with only me?” Zhou Mi laughed at whatever he must’ve seen in Kyuhyun’s face. “I answered; it’s only fair.”

“You could probably keep things interesting,” he said with a smirk. “It’s not like you’re hard to look at, but—“

Zhou Mi’s eyes were almost unreadable. “But?”

“I could teach you some moves, too, I guess. But it’s more than just rolling around together.”

“Yes,” Zhou Mi said. And Kyuhyun was still as Zhou Mi’s hand lifted, tracing Kyuhyun’s cheek with the side of his thumb. “It’s more than that. If this is something we decide we want? I think at some point, that we have to decide for ourselves to stop trying to break this. I can’t try to be with you and wonder.”

The swallow nearly hurt, but he nodded. “Though I think, even if we find a way, we shouldn’t do it. Until we’re sure.”

“That’s more than I once could have hoped for,” Zhou Mi admitted.

He let himself be pulled into Zhou Mi’s hug, rubbing at Zhou Mi’s shoulder blades. They’d been forced together because of rotten luck, and a crime. To think they had a chance to turn something bad into something palatable, much less something good? He nipped Zhou Mi’s neck and got a laugh. And the tiny welt he left there was still pretty bizarre and amazing to him. That only he could mark Zhou Mi. Like some kind of cosmic show that they belonged together.

Or at least that they had a chance to find out if they did.

***

The hopeful impasse was somewhat confusing to Zhou Mi. He just wasn’t sure what to _do_ about it. What could he show Kyuhyun of himself that he hadn’t already? He’d had to sit himself down several times during the day to assure himself that no, he could not try and win Kyuhyun over by becoming his vampire mother. He already washed Kyuhyun’s clothes, sometimes made him food. Tailored his clothes, ironed them. Made their bed. Everything else they split, among the chores. And if Kyuhyun was home, he helped put away clothes, and tended to do most of his own dishes as well. Going into overdrive-nesting mode was only going to scare Kyuhyun away, not make him want to stick around. But promptly right after thinking about it, he’d rested his head in his hands and smiled at absolutely nothing. Because it was too easy to remember Kyuhyun all but admitting that he was attracted to Zhou Mi. That Kyuhyun wasn’t clawing at the walls to get away any more. It wasn’t just because of attraction. There had to be feelings behind it as well. And that was what brought the silly smiles, and uncontrollable laughs and wiggles. To imagine Kyuhyun saying, _I love you. Stay with me._

And then he sobered again, of course. Because that was not only putting the cart before the horse, it was building the cart before there even was a horse. Kyuhyun was not teasing him because he was bored. It wasn’t like he could make Kyuhyun fall in love with him. Either they worked together, or they didn’t. And maybe that had him sinking into a momentary depression, to imagine that he loved while Kyuhyun didn’t. Though, he had no idea how that was any different than the last months had been. And if Kyuhyun felt nothing, then he wouldn’t be reconciling anything with Zhou Mi, much less giving caveats to their agreement to break the blood bond. Of all the things he had learned about Kyuhyun, it was that he wasn’t needlessly indecisive, and that he had a set of morals that would keep him from jerking Zhou Mi around. Especially on something as important on whether they would choose to stay together, if there was a choice to be had.

He didn’t get too dramatic about it. Kissing Kyuhyun wasn’t going to kill him, if he eventually lost his right to it. Not having a sexual partner had not killed him yet. But finding someone who delighted him as Kyuhyun did, who made him feel? That was harder. So when he had told Kyuhyun that he would not need kisses after the blood bond was broken, he was really hoping that for himself. Though it seemed odd to speak of it, since he had not actually come to believe that breaking it was possible. But he had not been lying when he told Kyuhyun that one day they would need to make up their minds to stop looking. He did not want to live the rest of his life beside Kyuhyun, not truly living, but only looking to the next horizon for some whisper of a chance. It was too wasteful. Not when they could give each other so much more.

The only way he knew to be, was to try. And instead of pulling away from touching Kyuhyun, he let himself be, without second guessing. Most of the time. Especially while feeding, that un-breachable connection. Twining his fingers with Kyuhyun’s and holding Kyuhyun’s arm. Tasting him. Unable not to smile at the richness of the gift that Kyuhyun gave him. As comforting as a hug, almost. From his veins, life for them both. He kept that hand in his after he was done, studying the long, jointed fingers, the sloping nails. He wanted to take one into his mouth, explore it, but figured that might be taking things a little too far. But he settled for pressing kisses to each of Kyuhyun’s knuckles, and reluctantly sitting up.

Kyuhyun’s favorite drama of the moment was still going, so he was prepared to sit back and be quiet. But it was Kyuhyun who pulled him closer. He wriggled his arm free to work it over Kyuhyun’s shoulders, edging as close as was comfortable. He rested his nose against Kyuhyun’s cheek, and and just breathed. But he did turn a little so he could see the screen. Soaking up Kyuhyun’s warmth against him like a heat-seeking sponge.

“Why is there so long between episodes,” Kyuhyun grumbled after the previews were over.

“To allow you time to savor?”

“I’d savor it more if I could have it all at once. You went a long time without touch, didn’t you,” Kyuhyun mused.

Kyuhyun’s sudden subject change wasn’t so sudden given the way they were wound together. Though Zhou Mi’s choice would have been on their bed, so he could wrap himself around Kyuhyun. Thigh sliding against thigh, hooking their ankles together. Letting Kyuhyun tickle him. But again, off the topic at hand.

“I had a couple of dogs. And a cat.” Zhou Mi smiled at Kyuhyun’s look. “No, it’s not quite the same.”

“This hadn’t exactly been what you’d hoped for,” Kyuhyun said. “I mean, even afterward, it could’ve gone better. If you needed hugs, and whatever. If I’d—“

Zhou Mi stopped him with a shake of his head. “I think all things happen as they should. You were unsure of me. We got to learn about each other. And looking for a way to break the bond, I think it was good. It might be able to help people, more than just us. Knowledge isn’t a bad thing.”

“You don’t think we’ll ever find out how to do it, do you? You never did.”

“No, I never did. But I would never have hidden it from you if I had seen something you hadn’t. Even if I didn’t know you, I hated to see you unhappy.”

“I got more resigned after a while,” Kyuhyun said, his head resting against Zhou Mi’s. “But unhappy? You’re pretty easy to get along with.”

“Yeah?”

“And not that bad to look at sometimes.” Kyuhyun smushed Zhou Mi’s face back into the cushion. “I’m going to shower.”

He really couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled, or the energy that had him pushing to his feet. Straightening the cushions and books on the shelf. Anything to keep occupied while Kyuhyun readied for bed. That they could contribute to each other’s happiness spoke of hope. Because even if Kyuhyun didn’t know it yet— No. He thought Kyuhyun had some idea, at least. At least that he had made Zhou Mi happier than he had been, before. Maybe it was ironic that something terrible led to it, but he supposed from anything tragic, some good had to follow.

And proved it to himself that night by curling against Kyuhyun’s back. And his dreams were easy, and warm, as Kyuhyun slept beside him.

***

“Get some fruit?” Zhou Mi suggested the next morning, staring around the kitchen. “I can go out, if I end up needing something.”

“No, I’ll get it on my way home. You pick out weird apples.”

Zhou Mi flicked water at Kyuhyun for the insult. He was learning. It wasn’t like he’d paid much attention to fruit for most of his life.

“Lunch is in your bag, you have your phone. I think you’re set.”

Kyuhyun made a thoughtful noise, and Zhou Mi nearly reached to pick up his dirty dishes when he realized that Kyuhyun wasn’t making for his bag.

He knew there was a look that Kyuhyun got when he wanted something. And there was that look when Kyuhyun knew he was right, and waiting be to agreed with. Or given in to. And that look was right up in Zhou Mi’s face, Kyuhyun angling on feet clad only in socks, face tipped up and waiting. Maybe even a little daring. After several seconds that expression softened, lips curving almost into a pout. Which of course drew his eyes. Just as Kyuhyun had to know it would.

Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose, and he got a sound of impatience in return. He leaned forward, at Kyuhyun’s command.

The kiss was barely more than a brush, hardly a press and a tease. It sent a rush down his spine and heat into his face, and if Kyuhyun hadn’t looked so smug, Zhou Mi almost would have thought he was a little unnerved by it.

“You’ll miss your train,” he said, pushing at Kyuhyun’s hip.

“Right. See you!”

And in a flurry of stubbed-on shoes, and hastily collected bag, Kyuhyun was out the door with a grin. What had possessed him, to go for that kiss. And what stupid, silly smile wouldn’t leave him, as he laughed to no one but himself against the door.

***


	8. Chapter Twelve

***

Zhou Mi’s day after Kyuhyun left was busy, to say the least. His phone had rung in the middle of hand embroidering a strawberry, and then he had just been in a flurry of throwing on his protective inner layer and clothes, so he could run out the door. A bookseller, one he used frequently, had located one of the rarer books he’d been inquiring about. Not the ultra-rare ones, the ones he’d have had to have sold body parts to purchase, but one that didn’t see circulation all that often. It rode home with him in his bag, all but burning a hole in it, as he clutched the rail on the subway. The possibility was so slim that it would have information about the blood bond. With Kyuhyun’s kisses still too clear to him, he was possibly more conflicted than ever. But he read it through carefully, reading some passages twice. Barely even standing as he waited for Kyuhyun to get home, so that Zhou Mi could show him.

“I thought you said most of the other books were rare and expensive,” Kyuhyun said, turning the book over in his hands.

“Most of them, yes. This has some damage to the outside, though, and it was one of the less rare ones. So I was able to get it more cheaply.”

Not that money was primary concern. It wasn’t just that the other books didn’t come on the market very often. And between his stipend, and the money he made from sewing, he had some money tucked away. It definitely didn’t beggar him to pick up one book. Though the way Kyuhyun eyed him, it seemed like he expected them to be homeless before the month was out. It probably didn’t help that he wouldn’t accept money from Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun bought most of his own food and miscellaneous supplies, and Zhou Mi didn’t try to fight him on that. But there was no sense in him giving Zhou Mi money for what Zhou Mi already owned, or had for free.

“I didn’t find anything particularly useful. Most of it we’ve seen. But there are historical accounts. Not always pleasant. But it might be something of interest to you.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

He left Kyuhyun to read, knowing the best way to absorb things wasn’t by having someone fluttering around and hovering. Instead he did the very interesting and fascinating, and occasionally frustrating task of gathering ruffles for the edge of an apron that had been ordered to be someone’s gift. Of course the apron had to have ruffles. And custom embroidery. His job never ceased to bring him interesting things and challenges.

The internet made all things easier, in that regard.

Kyuhyun was still reading when he felt his concentration starting to go. He rolled his neck around, and went in to change, throwing his shirt into the hamper with a sigh. Sewing oil all over the hem, which meant he hardly wanted to roll around in bed with it on. He changed in the closet half out of habit, from when Kyuhyun had been getting under his skin. He hadn’t wanted to be caught with an erection at a moment that it really wasn’t appropriate. But he snagged a shirt from the ones that he kept in a stack. It was probably the smallest space in the apartment, and crammed in most of his clothes, and all of Kyuhyun’s work clothes and some shoes. It was nice, at times, to see it. That there was another person there, who didn’t know how to get their clothes on hangers. He straightened one of Kyuhyun’s work shirts, knowing it’d be him with the iron if he didn’t.

“Sleeping soon?” Kyuhyun asked him, just as he was tugging his shirt down fully.

“Pretty soon. Did you find anything interesting in that book?”

“No. It’s pretty much the same as everything else we’ve seen, like you said. But all that stuff in there about the human and vampire testing, in terms of seeing what each could endure. That was pretty gruesome.”

“The name of science,” Zhou Mi mused.

“Sounded like it was better to be a vampire at that point.”

“Just because they can’t cut off a finger doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt to have them try.”

Kyuhyun’s whole body shook, as though he were trying to get the thought out of his head entirely. “Have you ever wished you were human?”

“Who hasn’t wished that they were someone, something else? Maybe some even wish they were me. If I were human, my life would be half over. Old enough that you - that someone your age - wouldn’t even look twice at me.” He cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably, unable to keep it back. The past few days of Kyuhyun being more open only seemed to show him more.. “But it would just be exchanging age for being a vampire. Because it is mostly the same now.”

“That’s not true.”

“The situation between us is a little different,” Zhou Mi said. “It wasn’t as though you had much choice to learn to accept in some way.”

“No,” Kyuhyun corrected him. “I had a choice. I had a lot of choices. Just being here didn’t make me want you. Obviously I learned about you.”

“But you never would have wanted me before, no matter what I looked like.”

“Is it less important to you, because I know you better now, and want you?” Kyuhyun asked, stepping forward. And Zhou Mi could help but take in every nuance of the expression Kyuhyun wore. Frustration and earnestness both. “Because you wouldn’t have wanted me back then, either. Head stuck too far up my own ass to—“

Zhou Mi laughed, finally seeing where Kyuhyun was going. He touched Kyuhyun’s lips, quieting him. “You’re right. We’ve changed together. Though once we were here in my apartment, I wasn’t blind to you.”

Kyuhyun’s tugged his hand down, holding it. “Me either, but we’d kind of lost the option of walking away at that point. It just took us a while.”

“That we’d be attracted is pretty amazing,” Zhou Mi murmured.

Kyuhyun’s fingers raising to play with the short hairs at the back of his neck nearly sent a chill through him.

“At least I don’t kiss you like a tease, when I can’t even stick around and make you pay.”

Ah, that morning. He chuckled, placing light hands at Kyuhyun’s sides. “I guess I can make it up to you.”

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t like they flung themselves at each other. But he savored every moment of it, the way his arms warmed around Kyuhyun’s waist and ribs. The way Kyuhyun’s arm crooked around his neck, hand warm on his shoulder, and then his jaw. There was no tease there, no laughter. Maybe a certain amount of measuring, making sure of each other. But even if there wasn’t there, that didn’t mean there was no joy. Kyuhyun smiled, even as his eyes dipped closed. As his own did, as their destination was reached. Kyuhyun’s breath heavy, lips moist. Pressing into the kiss, humming into Zhou Mi. He almost wished it were dark, in some forest glade. They could sink to the rich earth and worship each other. They had moans, and the harsh light of the overhead bulb, and their knees knocking. The first, ringing taste of Kyuhyun’s mouth, after Kyuhyun had nipped, soothed, his lips. Kyuhyun’s breath and grasping arms, angling their faces to kiss more fully. Not nearly as polite as their previous kisses. But as Kyuhyun laughed against his mouth, he didn’t think they minded.

“Breathing is good,” Kyuhyun said, puffing against his chin.

“It is.”

And to facilitate that, he nuzzled into Kyuhyun’s neck, breathing deeply. Kyuhyun. His Kyuhyun. Who kissed with want and need in him, and held him as though Zhou Mi was cared for. So easy to fall, with the warmth of a man in his arms, the taste of his mouth on his lips.

But only certain steps could be taken. Only certain things could be done.

“I’ll get ready for bed,” Kyuhyun said. “You haven’t eaten yet.”

Not on blood, Zhou Mi thought, letting Kyuhyun go and watching him with heavy eyes as he gathered clothes. But on something else, quite dear as well. It was so soft inside him, the knowledge that Kyuhyun gave just a little inside. That he cared enough to look at Zhou Mi, to apologize, to want. To talk to him about things that weren’t so easy to consider. Maybe a little bit of it was time passing, Kyuhyun giving up just enough on the possibility that the bond could be broken. Maybe just enough to where he could see Zhou Mi as something more than the fetter around his ankle. And ironically, he was okay with that. Because relationships had started with less. It took just those little moments to open someone’s eyes to possibilities. Kyuhyun was trying.

And so was he.

It was almost automatic as Kyuhyun settled in bed, the lights off, and an arm presented to him. Sometimes Kyuhyun spoke to him as he fed, though it was hard to answer with his teeth engaged. Most times he just laughed. That night, it was only the sound of Kyuhyun’s breathing to guide him. He disengaged, soothing the wound softly. Considering his hunger, and making his choice.

The give of Kyuhyun’s skin at the second bite had the buzz of satisfaction ringing through him. But it was Kyuhyun who made a sound, soft, in the back of his throat. Almost imperceptible if Zhou Mi hadn’t been listening. But he was. Looking to Kyuhyun’s face didn’t yield any clues, because it was still. Almost too still. But his eyes darted at a slight movement. Kyuhyun’s opposite hand, on his own hip. Fingers twitching, flexing. As if they wanted to move, touch. He could have stared holes through the sheet, wondering. It wasn’t the first sound that Kyuhyun had made during feeding, not the first movement. But Kyuhyun’s knees were raising. Trying to hide his arousal? It once would have thrilled him, but made him almost fear instead.

Zhou Mi slowly let go, licking at Kyuhyun’s skin. “Did I hurt you?”

It took a moment for Kyuhyun to respond, eyes sliding open and slowly focusing on Zhou Mi. “What?”

That question was so throaty. Fathomless, almost, from between lips that hadn’t closed. Had Kyuhyun been so deep in some fantasy that it took him that long to come out of it? He hated that even for a moment that he wondered if he was taking advantage, that what his bite did to Kyuhyun wasn’t normal. It was utterly normal. A vampire bite couldn’t make someone want sex any more than a massage could. If there wasn’t any want? It wasn’t like it was inherently a turn-on. Unless Kyuhyun was thinking of something that turned him on while Zhou Mi was feeding. Which clearly didn’t have to be anything related to Zhou Mi at all.

But what if it was?

Zhou Mi smiled at the dozy Kyuhyun, and got another soft sound, as his lips pressed to Kyuhyun’s palm. Letting his tongue trace the ridges of that skin, ridges he had long memorized with his eyes. And Kyuhyun’s fingers, almost as though by reflex, curled against Zhou Mi’s face.

He reached for Kyuhyun’s hand, the one that was still restless across Kyuhyun’s hip. And dragged it toward himself. Kyuhyun’s hips shifted violently, and even if Zhou Mi’s hand was over his, it was obvious their hands curved over an erection. Kyuhyun’s.

“You never said anything,” Zhou Mi whispered.

“It happens,” Kyuhyun said, the blank stillness back on his face. “You should know that.”

It was Kyuhyun who slid his hand from under Zhou Mi’s, who pressed Zhou Mi’s hand in a solid drag along the warm line of Kyuhyun’s arousal.

Kyuhyun seemed to swallow hard. “I don’t think you have to ask if that’s for you.”

“Do you want—“

Zhou Mi’s mind went a hundred ways. To touch Kyuhyun, over cloth, under. With his mouth. Skin to skin. Belly to belly, writhing. He drew back his hand only for a moment, making his choice. His hand slid up Kyuhyun’s shirt, petting the soft skin there, before edging under the elastic of Kyuhyun’s pajama pants.

He had little more than saliva to wet his hand, but he tried. Not able to see beneath the cloth, but liking what he felt immensely. The rigid strength of Kyuhyun’s arousal. Growing harder even with the friction of Zhou Mi’s hand, Kyuhyun’s hips lifting to meet his strokes. And more sounds, Kyuhyun’s hand clenching tight on Zhou Mi’s shoulder as he moaned a short warning. As though Zhou Mi would have stopped. The satisfaction of wetting his hand with Kyuhyun’s ejaculate, to urge all of it from him that he could.

He was nearly breathing as hard as Kyuhyun, the scent of sex cloying in the air. It seemed Kyuhyun had wanted, and quite a lot. But the smell of it was driving him insane. What did he lose by trying?

To flip back the sheet and curl over Kyuhyun’s body. The bare, almost quivering skin of Kyuhyun’s stomach was so warm and alive to him. Even as his tongue met it, wet and hungry. Cleaning some the mess that he had helped Kyuhyun to make. Maybe it wasn’t blood, but it was unique. It was Kyuhyun. He inhaled deeply, moving further. Licking it from his fingers, from Kyuhyun’s skin. He thought Kyuhyun was going to stop him, until he realized that the shaky hand to the back of his neck was not there as a deterrent. Maybe as an anchor. It was a whimper, as Zhou Mi took him in hand, ever so gently licking. He dared not go to far, do too much, when Kyuhyun was still sensitive. If he had his wish, his dream, Kyuhyun wouldn’t be frightened by what his teeth could do, and let him take Kyuhyun fully into his mouth. To feel Kyuhyun’s orgasm between his lips. To taste it, drink it. No, not with his teeth, but every other sense.

He would have been content to lay there for some time, against Kyuhyun’s damp skin. Tracing the faint line of hair up to Kyuhyun’s belly button with a fingertip, ringing it. He felt drunk on what he had done, that Kyuhyun had let him. That Kyuhyun’s hand still rested heavy on the back of his neck. And he could feel Kyuhyun’s heartbeat begin its slow, steady beat. If his lips curved in satisfaction, so be it.

He forced himself to move, dragging the covers back up over them and slumping back with a sigh. The pillow welcomed him, and the warmth was almost overwhelming as Kyuhyun rolled against him. And there was only thin cloth between Kyuhyun’s hand, and his own arousal.

“You never said anything about this,” Kyuhyun breathed, teasing him with his own words.

But how could he help it? How could he not be aroused, when Kyuhyun’s scent and taste encompassed him, and his warmth. His head arched back into the pillow as Kyuhyun stroked him, at first through the cloth and then skin to skin. The dry friction was kind of nice, in that it kept him from going off like the world’s most trigger-happy rocket. His fingers gripped the sheets as though they would help him survive, with Kyuhyun breathing against his shoulder. He shuddered, inhaled. Could have arched into that touch forever, but it wasn’t to be. His face turned to Kyuhyun, that scent overwhelming him.

“Kyuhyun,” he gasped, and lost himself to the glory of it. Imagining Kyuhyun’s face above him, below him. Even as his eyes focused again, on the face not far away, beside his. He dried Kyuhyun’s hand with his shirt, and turned to him. In the shadows, only able to see so much. But it was enough. The slight shine of Kyuhyun’s eyes, the parted mouth. He wanted a kiss. Needed it. But they were both tired, and the kiss was little more than a briefing meeting. It still warmed him through. And when he craved another, he curved his arm over Kyuhyun’s waist instead.

“Thank you,” he murmured, stroking Kyuhyun’s lower back.

Kyuhyun merely sighed, and relaxed. Falling into sleep before Zhou Mi could. But it gave him time to admire, and to wonder. What exactly had they done, and would they do it again?

***

The first thing that Kyuhyun realized when he woke was that he was very warm. And the next thing, was that his butt was bare. His eyes opened, considering the more-distant-than-usual wall. All signs pointed to a sleepy man draped over him. He was pretty sure that was Zhou Mi’s leg using his thigh as pillow. And that was definitely an arm squeezed over his ribs, and a mouth puffing wetly at the back of his neck. Also, related to his naked butt. With slight movement, he could feel where his waistband had slipped during the night. No doing on Zhou Mi’s part, just the normal movement. He remembered swapping positions a few times during the night, and vaguely recalled considering pulling up his pants, but at that point he’d been too busy trying to glom onto Zhou Mi’s back and pass out again.

The raucous tones of his alarm screamed out, and he felt Zhou Mi jerk awake, laughing into the pillow.

“You need a nicer alarm,” Zhou Mi complained.

“Why would I want to get up if I had that?” Kyuhyun asked. And he lost track of thinking he had to get to his phone to turn off the alarm, when he realized Zhou Mi’s mouth was making a path of kisses from the back of his neck going forward. Nudging up under his jaw and he arched almost involuntarily into it. Teeth or no teeth, he wanted Zhou Mi to continue.

“Good morning,” Zhou Mi told him.

“Do you think if I don’t go into work today that anyone would care?”

Zhou Mi chuckled. “I think someone would care and notice. Why? Do you feel okay?”

The concern wiggled warm through him. “I feel fine. But it’s warm here.”

And Zhou Mi’s hand was warm when he covered it with his, a clue to what he was actually talking about.

“Oh. Kyuhyun. It’ll still be warm and here tonight,” Zhou Mi said.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

And Zhou Mi seemed keen to prove it, turning Kyuhyun’s face and kissing him. And that hand on his jaw had him turning, firm, and guiding him with a little jostling as Zhou Mi stood, until Kyuhyun was sitting up on the edge of the bed.

“There,” Zhou Mi said, pulling his mouth away. “Your feet are even on the floor. Now you have to get up.”

“Clever, aren’t you?” he muttered, and almost forgot he had to pull up the back of pants up as he stood. Though Zhou Mi’s eyes flickered down, curious and interested at that movement.

“Someone forgot to dress me last night.” And he paused from where he’d been marching away, still pleased at Zhou Mi’s reaction to his almost-undress. “I suppose my pants’ll be like that tonight, too, huh?”

He just missed getting hit in the head by a flying sock as he darted toward the bathroom.

Still, he’d managed to get out the front door totally dressed, and no semblance of pantsless-ness about him. Even if he had thought about dragging Zhou Mi’s pajamas down, just to see what kind of reaction he’d get. He’d seen that butt and legs in just underwear before, but that had been a while ago, for one thing. And doing so probably wouldn’t have gotten him out the door when he needed to be. Still grinning and kissing Zhou Mi goodbye, a little gratuitous chewing on that generous bottom lip, hadn’t been too bad as a consolation prize. As he made it onto his train, he thought maybe they could go to bed a little earlier, see where the feeding took them. So not fair that Zhou Mi kissed nice, as well as being hot to touch. Though, there was some hesitation and learning. On both their parts. Didn’t make it less of a turn-on, though.

And it turned out he could even get work done without distracting himself too many times with just how good Zhou Mi’s tongue had felt on his stomach. Or that hand jerking him off, or moaning Kyuhyun’s name. Okay, maybe the last one hadn’t been actual sensation, but it still got him pretty stirred up even half a day later. Zhou Mi and his stupid voice, and his stupid hands, and stupid body. Replacing stupid with “ridiculously attractive” and “completely unfair.” Congratulations, he’d found a man who barely had to breathe to get his pants too tight. It was impossible to shove all that want down again.

And yeah, he was a little happy about that. What they were doing felt natural. No one could’ve told them they were rushing after ignoring any attraction for months. There was a man in his apartment who wanted Kyuhyun, against all odds it seemed. Keeping his smile to a below-stupid level took some doing on his part.

His phone buzzed from its turtle-shaped holder. Incoming call. Zhou Mi. Barely two in the afternoon, and Zhou Mi usually texted when he needed something.

“Hey, what’s up?” he answered, waiting for Zhou Mi to tell him why he was calling.

“I’m sorry to call you at work like this, but—“ Even Kyuhyun, who knew he could be slightly less than perceptive at times, could hear the tone of worry in that voice. “Eunhyuk called me. He thinks something’s up there. That vampire researcher with the blog has gone missing, and a person was just found dead. Bite wounds. If we have a chance at checking this out, I think this is our best shot. But you don’t have to go. With work, and everything. I can—“

“Hold on. Hang on a second.” It was Wednesday afternoon. No big meetings the next couple of days, and what there was, Ryeowook could handle. All his accounts were pretty well taken care of. “No. I want to go with you. Let me clear this with my boss, make sure I can take the next couple of days off. I’ll call you if I run into a snag, otherwise I’ll be home as soon as I can get a train. Uh- you can pack my underwear and stuff, if you want? I can throw in shirts or whatever.”

He hung up before he could get an answer, first running things past Ryeowook and his increasingly concerned eyes, before darkening his boss’s door. Kyuhyun considered himself a good employee. He didn’t slack off, take unexpected time off very often. But this wasn’t something that could be rescheduled. If there were vampires different than Zhou Mi in existence, they couldn’t just be asked to wait until Zhou Mi could get there to ask questions.

But he got his agreement, and good luck. Even hugging Ryeowook on the way out to reassure him. The entirety of the five subway stops he had to endure, he spent standing, probably annoying everyone near him with his toe tapping. He was definitely red-faced and out of breath by the time he’d sprinted up the stairs to their apartment, stripping off his jacket and tie, and finding Zhou Mi dressed, with the hood of the special sun-filtering cloth still hanging around his neck.

“Hey,” Zhou Mi said, eyes bright with fervor. “I went ahead and chose some shirts for you, and pants. There is underwear, and socks in there, and your things from the bathroom. I packed your computer bag, and it has your cell phone charger and laptop things. Also, some snacks, in case we don’t find something. If you—“

“Hey,” he interrupted, shirt half off as he cupped Zhou Mi’s neck. “Breathe. You did good. Just let me change, and we can get out of here.”

He kissed Zhou Mi because he wanted to, and also because it seemed like the right thing to do. His jeans and shirt went on quickly, making a quick sweep to make sure he didn’t need anything else. And the apartment locked behind them, him with his laptop carrier, and Zhou Mi with the bag that held their clothes. He didn’t know when they’d seen it next, but he hoped they’d know more when they did.

***

It was obvious from the reaction of the ticketing agent that they didn’t get many vampires on their trains. There was some whispering in the back, as they probably checked whether it was legal or not, but they had two tickets out of the city before too long. Fifteen minutes before the next train left. They made their way to the platform, and he leaned into Zhou Mi’s arm. Under the cloth, Zhou Mi’s face was tight. He figured they could relax a little more on the train. Less than two hours to where Eunhyuk lived, but it was long enough.

He could almost hear Zhou Mi’s thoughts. What if they went all that way, and missed finding the vampires? Or didn’t find out anything?

They found seats in a corner so the sun wouldn’t be of much offense to either of them, and got their bag settled. His laptop on the floor between their feet. Waiting and watching as people got settled, and urging the train to start moving them toward their destination. He got his arm inside of Zhou Mi’s, sliding it up so that he could squeeze first Zhou Mi’s wrist and then his hand. Or his hand encased in soft leather gloves, in any case.

“We find out what we find out,” he told Zhou Mi. It was strange, that twinge inside. They were on the train because of him, not because of Zhou Mi. Zhou Mi was researching it for Kyuhyun’s benefit. They’d only barely begun to talk and explore about what they wanted from their future, one way or the other. He could have stopped them, told Zhou Mi he wanted to stop looking for a while. Figure out what they wanted from each other, first. But they’d come too far to turn back. He figured as long as Zhou Mi knew that whatever they found out wasn’t an ultimatum or a death sentence, then they were good. And in truth, it was curiosity fueling him. Was there a different kind of vampire? There could be people’s lives at stake. People were dying. And maybe they couldn’t do anything about it, but they’d never know otherwise.

From Zhou Mi, he got a smile, and a squeeze back, and knew he was one of the lucky ones. And to pass the time, he alternately watched the scenery go by, and dozed against Zhou Mi’s shoulder.

***

Kyuhyun wasn’t sure what to expect from Zhou Mi’s friend. But the curious eyed man - vampire - who opened the door was far off from his mental images. Not nearly as tall as Zhou Mi, but as slender, Eunhyuk made a sound of relief, and height or not, all but engulfed Zhou Mi in a one-armed hug.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Kyuhyun heard from the vicinity of Zhou Mi’s shoulder.

“You needed someone here, and we might be able to find things out, too,” Zhou Mi said. And after a few minutes, Eunhyuk pushed back, and again, there was that curiosity Zhou Mi got an arm around Kyuhyun’s back, dragging him closer. “This is my— This is Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun, this is Eunhyuk.”

“Nice to meet you finally,” Eunhyuk said. Some reserve there that Kyuhyun wasn’t sure of. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Mixed good and bad I’m sure,” Kyuhyun said, not daring to look at Zhou Mi. “Nice meeting you, too. Though. I wish it was under better circumstances.”

Eunhyuk ignored his words, motioning to Zhou Mi. “Bring in your bags. We have a little while until the liaison from the police agreed to meet us.”

“We don’t usually get police help,” Zhou Mi mentioned, closing the door behind himself once their clothes bag was inside.

“Here, either, but Daniel was able to forge some tenuous bonds there. It’s been a lot of help since he went missing.”

Daniel, the researcher with the blog. Even if the man’s writing hadn’t been of much use, it had still be interesting. Someone who dealt with vampires on a close basis. Kyuhyun had really only had one to base his own ideas off of. And Zhou Mi was frowning.

“Last night?” Kyuhyun asked, having heard the full story from Zhou Mi.

Again, those cautious eyes. “Yes, that’s right. If he was taken to be eaten, then it’s probably a matter of looking for his— His body.”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “We don’t know that yet.”

But Eunhyuk was clearly not interested in platitudes. After a moment of discomfort on his part, as Zhou Mi all but leaned into him, Eunhyuk got them all tea, having them sit in the small apartment. It was different than Zhou Mi’s, obviously. Different colors, different pictures on the wall. Definitely a bigger TV. But still comfortable. Eunhyuk settled across from them.

“We saw each other last, what…Two years ago?” Eunhyuk mused. “I go into the city every so often, but Zhou Mi doesn’t like to leave it.”

Kyuhyun sent an amused look at Zhou Mi, who had actually taken the train ride better than Kyuhyun had expected. “Now he knows he can.”

“I didn’t leave the city alone,” Zhou Mi said wryly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe you need to sit in my lap on the way back.”

He lifted himself, scooting over as though he was about to slide onto Zhou Mi’s legs, and got a bark of laughter, Zhou Mi pulling him back down beside him.

“Things have changed between you,” Eunhyuk said, glancing between them.

And Kyuhyun realized that Eunhyuk could not know what had transpired the last few days. He doubted Zhou Mi called him after each kiss and touch, or he would’ve been rather disgruntled to learn of it. All Eunhyuk knew of Kyuhyun was that he was eager to break the bond with Zhou Mi. And possibly knowing Zhou Mi’s feelings on the matter of the bond, and about Kyuhyun himself. More even than Kyuhyun knew. He discovered he didn’t like that at all.

“Anyone less patient or optimistic would’ve just locked me in the bathroom and been done with it,” Kyuhyun answered. Zhou Mi made some kind of sound of denial, and he settled firmly against Zhou Mi’s side.

“I’m glad things got better for you,” Eunhyuk said. And some of that appraisal was gone. Perhaps he’d won some kind of points with Zhou Mi’s friend on the basis of Zhou Mi’s reaction.

Zhou Mi smiled between them. “Don’t worry, Eunhyuk wasn’t telling me to lock you in the bathroom.”

“No, but you were telling me that Kyuhyun was easy on the eyes.”

Kyuhyun could almost feel Zhou Mi gathering steam beside him, and he couldn’t take his eyes off that face. Trying to to get embarrassed, probably. But like that was any kind of a surprise to Kyuhyun?

“He asked me what you looked like,” Zhou Mi exclaimed. “It’s not like I could tell him no.”

“It was relevant information, that’s all.” Eunhyuk’s eyebrows waggled, teasing Zhou Mi. “Not like I could go and look myself.”

“A picture is quicker,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi leaned into him.

And he couldn’t help the proprietary hand he slapped on Zhou Mi’s thigh, probably any more than Zhou Mi could help the hand that covered his. Now it was normal, to have Zhou Mi against him. As normal as a long fingered hand over his, a thigh against his, could be. He knew if he looked, Zhou Mi would be smiling. Normal, he repeated in his head. Normal, his life. With vampires. With Zhou Mi. Probably forever.

“How long did you say until the police would be?” Zhou Mi asked, checking the clock.

“Another hour,” Eunhyuk said, looking at his watch. “They’re supposed to meet us here. I think they want us to look at the places Daniel marked as possible places for the vampires to be. Since he’s been missing less than a day, they aren’t very worked up, but I know something is wrong.”

Zhou Mi was quiet a moment, considering, and Kyuhyun wondered what was going on behind those flickering eyes.

“I want to go see where they found the person who died,” Zhou Mi said finally, looking at Kyuhyun. “Maybe we can get there and back before they police get here.”

Eunhyuk agreed. “I can get you a map. I’ll stay here, in case you’re a little late. It’s not far, though.”

“At least they didn’t think you did it?” Zhou Mi offered.

It was a sad smile on Eunhyuk’s face. “Not much, anyway.”

While the map was printing, Zhou Mi gripped Kyuhyun’s hand.

“You should stay here.”

“No way,” he protested. “We had this conversation before. Look, and it’s not like you’re charging into some lair, just going to look at a crime scene. I think I can handle it.”

And when Zhou Mi didn’t seem convinced, he sighed. “Look, it’ll be okay. I’ll stay close to you, and we’ll get out of there if it’s weird. I came this far with you. You can’t keep me in a glass case.”

“Why can’t I?” Zhou Mi asked. But before he could sigh in exasperation, Zhou Mi had leaned in for a kiss. “Okay. Let’s go. We won’t stay long.”

He was maybe a little uneasy. For his flippant words, he didn’t exactly tromp past where people had died on a daily basis. But if they were going to find things out, then they needed to do it thoroughly. And he had Zhou Mi with him. It could have been worse.

***

It took little time to find where they were going between Kyuhyun’s map-reading skills, and a couple of clarifications on his part. Yes, left meant left, if they were facing one way or the other. He’d only gotten slapped on the head with the map once when pointing that out to Kyuhyun. It was dark, the street lights shining. It would have been pleasant, had they not knew what they were walking towards. But he still stripped off his glove, keeping Kyuhyun’s hand in his. For a few reasons, really. One, because he enjoyed it. But also because it kept Kyuhyun close. He wasn’t sure how bad the danger was, or what they were truly walking into. But going where a crime had already been committed seemed rather benign at best.

“I imagine where they dumped this body is a decent distance away from where they live,” Kyuhyun said, echoing his train of thought. “I don’t imagine you’d litter where you live.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Zhou Mi said, rubbing Kyuhyun’s thumb with his own. “To drink from someone until they die. It’s such a perversion of a blood bond. We provide for each other. This is nothing like that.”

Kyuhyun hummed thoughtfully. “I bet you don’t even want them called vampires.”

“I wish they weren’t. If this got out, really got big, the uproar would be— Bigger than I have seen in my lifetime.”

“We could move to a hut in the woods somewhere, I guess. You know how to hunt?”

He smiled at his feet, knowing what Kyuhyun was trying to do. “I’d figure it out.”

The city in which Eunhyuk lived was smaller, less urban than where they lived. There were no high rises around them, just quiet, dark store fronts and the occasional warehouse. With the streetlights it was not a frightening walk, no holes to trip over or avoid. Just a nice suburban town in the beginning draw of nighttime.  
It was behind one of the stores, a fabric shop, that they found their destination. The alley where the man had been found was quiet, and dimly lit, stretching along the backs of several stores. Brick buildings on either side, a faded speed limit sign, pavement pitted with potholes in places. The occasional stain of oil on the ground. They had brought along a flashlight of Eunhyuk’s, and stuck close beside each other. But it didn’t keep Zhou Mi from jumping, shining the light behind each trash can and door entrance as the flashlight threw moving shadows across the alley with each step they took.

“Sad place to be left,” Kyuhyun said softly.

It was. Any sort of crime scene marks were reduced to just faint marks that had been painted, indicating where the body had been. He hoped fervently that the man’s end had not been full of fear, that they had at least made him unconscious before murdering him. He wondered who could do something like that, who would dare. To take someone’s life from them, even to eat. When he thought of Kyuhyun in danger, in fear like that, he wished they had never come to that place.

There wasn’t anything to learn there, but the knowledge of sadness that someone had been killed there. The walls could not tell them what they had come to seek out.

And it sent unease running through him like a current.

“Let’s go,” he said softly.

They made it as far as the end of the alley, nearly back to where the street lights illuminated more fully. The sound of footsteps had his hand tightening on Kyuhyun’s, even as he moved them closer to the wall.

“You two, what are you doing here?”

It was a woman’s voice, and Zhou Mi angled in front of Kyuhyun. She had turned the corner from the street, and he could just make out a badge behind the light she held. The police. He relaxed slightly, and tried to smile.

“We don’t mean any harm. A friend said we should walk this way to—“

“Thrill seekers, wanting to see where someone died? Great.” There was a moment of silence. “You’re a… A vampire? The cloth around your neck.”

He hadn’t hidden it totally, as the sun went down. But he couldn’t deny it. That itself was a punishable offense. “Yes, I am. But I am with my—“

His registered blood bonded mate, was what he was going to say.

His lungs expanded at the flicker of movement, the choking sound beside him.

Kyuhyun’s hand untangling from his.

He could not even reach before his head bounced off of the wall. He felt the pain as he clawed at the brick.

How had he not heard?

The stun against the wall lasted only a second, and he scrabbled free to see a burly arm around Kyuhyun’s neck, and Kyuhyun struggling to get away from it. Choking for air. The punch he threw was almost ineffectual, his arm twisted in the grip of someone stronger than him. He went to his knees, fighting as he had never learned how. It didn’t matter what he had to do. Scratch, bite, kick, tear. Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun. It took the strength of both men to pull Zhou Mi up and pin him against the brick, and he could have screamed with anger. Shouting for help, shouting for them to stop.

Kyuhyun gasped, struggled, and he wanted to bark out an order to let him go, would have if a fist hadn’t met his ribs and driven the air from him.

Who were they? Who— He couldn’t see the woman any more, but it was obvious they were not the police, that much was certain.

His strength surged uselessly, slammed back against the brick when he saw the teeth displayed in the mouth of the man holding Kyuhyun. Taunting Zhou Mi. A vampire. But the man made no move to bite Kyuhyun, covering Kyuhyun’s mouth and nose with a cloth. The struggle, the stiffness in Kyuhyun’s body relaxed, as whatever was on the cloth sent him into unconsciousness. Held against the vampire’s body.

“Please, let him go!” Zhou Mi urged. Demanded. “He is no danger to you. We have a blood bond—“

“We know,” the woman said, stepping into his line of sight. “We can smell it. But we have orders to bring in any dhampyr we find. Come quietly, or we snap his neck here.”

He wanted to do nothing of the sort. He wanted to rip their arms off, take Kyuhyun away. How could he be so useless?

But Zhou Mi showed his acquiescence in the lowering of his head, never taking his eyes from Kyuhyun’s slumped form. He could do nothing right then. But he wouldn’t leave it at that. It was too like the time before. Being snatched, forced from his building to bite Kyuhyun. But his fear wasn’t for himself.

He walked stiffly, arms held in such a way that he could not even begin to break free. Too weak to do what he had to protect the the one man he needed? And he could not even do that. He could do nothing but watch as Kyuhyun was carted over the vampire’s shoulder, carrying him with ease. Clearly not human. But perhaps not vampire either? No one had said anything about vampires having superhuman strength. Unless they were a different kind of vampire.

The idea flushed sick through him, as his hands were tied and eyes were covered, and he was pushed into the back of a van beside Kyuhyun. At least then, Kyuhyun’s hand was in his. They were already blood bound. All that could be done to hurt them, was in hurting Kyuhyun.

There would be no breath left in his body before he saw that happen. He swore it.

***


	9. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

By the time the van they rode in had stopped, Zhou Mi had managed to work off his blindfold. Not enough to see much of anything, but for Kyuhyun’s face. He struggled against his bonds, to little effect. And they had blindfolded him again, dragging him out with hands he could not fight for fear of endangering Kyuhyun. Unable to see, he only knew they were led, or in Kyuhyun’s case carried, inside, and down a set of stairs. Some kind of basement.

Kyuhyun began to moan, rousing, as they walked, and Zhou Mi held his breath, hoping he would not be hurt.

There was milling around them, the sound of more feet. And Zhou Mi was forced to his knees.

“Kyuhyun?” he called out, careful.

“Your pet is right here,” someone said, the sound almost a sneer in itself.

“I’m awake,” Kyuhyun whispered, and it soothed his heart.

But the voices made his head spin.

_“We are hungry. Why bring this human?”_

_“Can’t you smell him? It’s just a dhampyr, who got himself a blood bond.”_

_“Bond or not, he smells like dinner.”_

_“No, you should wait. He wasn’t brought as a meal.”_

_“A bite won’t hurt him.”_

At first he though he had heard part of it wrong, dhampyr. It was a word he had seen used before, in one of the books he had. It spoke of vampires untransformed, and he had always taken it to mean before a vampire got its teeth. But their conversation with the researcher sprang to his mind. _I think the most interesting thing is the vampires that can bite without bonding…A progenitor, of sorts._ If that was who had taken him and Kyuhyun, did they then consider him half, less than them? If they could bite without bonding, then perhaps to them he was lesser. Incomplete.

The blindfold came up off of Zhou Mi’s eyes, and the binding from his wrists, and he blinked in the light. Whatever was around him could have been snarling tigers, because all he saw was Kyuhyun being pulled up onto his feet. Kyuhyun tried to shake off the vampire who was holding him, but got nothing but a cuff to the head. And Kyuhyun’s eyes were solid on his. _We’ll get out of this,_ Kyuhyun’s eyes seemed to say. He wanted nothing more than to say those words aloud. _Stay strong. They can’t hurt me. I would give my life for you._

The feeling that caused someone to bind themselves to another, give up immortality and live as bonded as two people could be.

He had never understood it more than in that moment.

“Let him go!” Zhou Mi ordered, and was ignored, as the squabble about _dinner_ and _wait_ kept going. He shook his head, struggling against the hands on his shoulders. “He is mine!”

“Not any more,” the vampire sniggered, and twisted Kyuhyun’s head. For a long, horrific moment, Zhou Mi nearly expected the pop and crunch of a neck being broken. He never expected that the sound he would hear was worse.

The instinctual cry of pain from Kyuhyun’s throat, as the vampire’s teeth sank into his neck.

Zhou Mi screamed, thrashing from the hold of one man, making it only so far on his knees before he was covered and bound up again. Forced to watch as Kyuhyun’s hands went stiff and trembled, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. But a hand over Zhou Mi’s mouth kept him from shouting, every obscenity he knew. The neck, full of blood, it wouldn’t have taken long for Zhou Mi to feed. But the vampire didn’t let up, and his heart shattered with every second that past.

Was he to be forced to watch Kyuhyun killed in front of his very eyes? What hospital could transfuse him fast enough.

The sound of the bite ending, satisfaction from the vampire, and another pained sound from Kyuhyun, nearly undid him. And for a second Kyuhyun was left to stand alone. Zhou Mi’s breath held in fear, as Kyuhyun swayed, unsteady.

“Kyuhyun, no—“

The hands holding him released, and he nearly stumbled to his feet, staggering toward Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun was pushed into his arms, the vampire laughing as it sent both of them to the ground. But he didn’t pay attention to the stinging in his knees, but to the puncture wounds on Kyuhyun’s neck, dripping blood with alarming speed. The vampire had not even tried to stem the flow. Something was off about it, the smell. Someone else’s smell on Kyuhyun’s skin. It would have been jealousy had he not been so frightened. That blood was Kyuhyun’s. And it didn’t matter what scent made his lips curl in disgust, he could not allow Kyuhyun to bleed.

The taste of Kyuhyun’s blood was not what he expected. As though it had been laced with acid and chalk, not the coppery richness he was used to. He did not bite, only cleaned. Urging the wounds to close by smoothing them with his tongue, his antibodies. And he wanted to wash out his mouth afterward.

“What did you do to him?” he asked, wanting to snarl.

“Just a little snack.”

Kyuhyun was listless against him. But the bleeding had stopped. And his color, at least, was good.

It began like a headache might. A tiny throb. Only instead of in his head, his bones. Like every vein was beginning to swell, and change, and course with fire. He gasped, nearly dropping Kyuhyun from his grasp. Screams, in his head, biting into the loose cloth at Kyuhyun’s shoulder to keep them from coming out. It was like coming back to consciousness, after the avalanche of pain had ceased. But some of it still remained, everywhere in his body he could name.

“He needs a hospital,” Zhou Mi mumbled, scattered. “Kyuhyun. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

“Zhou Mi?” Kyuhyun’s voice was almost rusty, but so beautiful.

“He will be fine,” a man’s voice said. “You drank from him?”

A man crouched nearby, and Zhou Mi had to blink twice not to see his own face. Different, wider. Sharper nose, wider chin.

Zhou Mi nodded slowly, surprised his neck allowed it. “I had to stop the blood. He was bleeding.”

“You had a blood bond?”

“Someone forced it on us,” Kyuhyun said, surprising Zhou Mi when his eyes opened. Clearly listening even though he was weak.

“No longer,” the vampire told them. But his eyes were fixed on Zhou Mi’s. “A vampire’s bite will not break a bond. But you drank from the human after a true vampire bit him, and the bite of a vampire is far stronger than yours. What bound the human to you is no more.”

“That was what we were looking for,” Kyuhyun breathed, looking to Zhou Mi.

It could not be true. It was impossible. He was still holding Kyuhyun. They had been looking for a way to break the bond, not to use it. Not to be tricked into it. But the pain he’d felt— Hurting inside in ways he’d never known. Was that the feeling of what had bound him to Kyuhyun’s blood breaking apart?

“You lie. Blood bound we are not a threat do you. Why would you do that?”

“It was not our intention. You are here because you are a dhampyr, and we keep close tabs on those who seek to find us. But now that I see you, you are a curiosity to me. You are a child of mine.”

Too many surprises, too many punches to his emotions. The words echoed in Zhou Mi’s head. “You are my… My father?”

“In human terms, your grandfather, I would suppose. A son of a son of mine. My name is Chilhyun. Your father has been long dead.”

“I don’t understand.”

“No, you would not. We will speak later. Bring the human a drink.”

“The bond, it can be renewed?” Zhou Mi asked, desperate. “What are you? How can—“

Chilhyun did not respond, just walking away.

And though he could still just faintly smell it, Kyuhyun’s blood smelled dank and vile. It was fading from him, the scent of it. It did not stop him from placing barely perceptible kisses against Kyuhyun’s skin. He hoped as comfort to them both. And he learned it was possible to sit very still, very calm, when inside he was breaking apart. And it had nothing at all to do with the stinging ache in his limbs. As though his whole body protested the separation from Kyuhyun.

A word of thanks almost left Zhou Mi’s lips as a cup of water was offered to him. He took it, jostling Kyuhyun back to reality. Most of the water made it into Kyuhyun’s mouth, as Zhou Mi held the cup to his lips. And it seemed to revive Kyuhyun. He drank deeply, almost desperately. And seemed more alert, leaning less heavily into Zhou Mi.

The jeers of the others only had him holding Kyuhyun tighter, trying to work through it in his head. It could not be true. The thought of it was too much to bear. Why had they come? If there had been no vampire bite, if he had not drank Kyuhyun’s blood after it had been tainted? Kyuhyun’s words, _that was what we were looking for._ Had they been happy, pleased? Or confused. Kyuhyun still seemed half drowsy, and he did not think he could hold Kyuhyun to his words. But the sting of them was still there. Perhaps Kyuhyun had been less willing to stay with him, in the face of an option to get away, than he had thought.

But Zhou Mi was forced to his feet before long, helping Kyuhyun to stand drunkenly as well. And they were locked in a room with not a stick of furniture to fill it. No windows, just a single, locked door. Undoubtedly guarded. In the cool air, he stared at the gray walls, and sat beside Kyuhyun. Holding him against his chest.

Praying.

***

When the door opened again, it was Chilhyun, alone, and Kyuhyun stirred. In Chilhyun’s hands was food in a plastic bag, and it was set beside them. Zhou Mi opened the bottle of juice, the jerky, the bread. And Kyuhyun sat up, eating slowly as they sat in silence.

“Why did you bring us here?” Zhou Mi asked, steadying Kyuhyun’s shoulder.

“Put yourself near someone’s home, and you may not get greeted the way you wish.” Chilhyun focused on Zhou Mi. “Can you smell him, your human?”

“No,” Zhou Mi said. “What little I can smell is just vile.”

“It’s interesting. We did not study blood bonds very closely. So we will take note of this.”

“They called me a dhampyr. Why?”

“Because you are not a vampire, to us. Your blood is thinned, weak.”

Chilhyun leaned back against the wall and seemed to consider, before speaking again. “The number of male vampire babies was always somewhat higher. When we lost most of our women to - I cannot speak of it - there was a desperation. Vampires may not mate from necessity, and a blood bond is impossible. But there is often deep emotion that surrounds a mating bond. And there may be children born to that union. But desperation grew with every male child born. At least ten men vying for every un-bound female, if not more. Bonded couples moving to seclusion to escape harassment. That is the desperation that led us to humans.

“It was our greatest experiment. To see if the humans could provide us with mates. Of course, mixed children had been born before, but quickly eliminated. Imagine our chagrin, that among those half-human children, that immortality set in after the blood teeth came down. But no children could be produced from a union between vampire and the lesser dhampyr creatures we created. The trial failed. And all that were left when our trial was done were half-vampires who could feed from a single human only. Able to breed with humans and create more of their own kind.”

It was Kyuhyun who spoke, when Chilhyun had finished. “So you created vampires that could do what you couldn’t, and replicate themselves without loss. With unlimited human choices. Then the immortality of vampires has its limits.”

Chilhyun acknowledge that with a subtle movement of his head. “Any dhampyr with a blood bond could tell you that.”

“But vampires were acknowledged a century ago. How long ago was the experiment?”

“Twice that.” Chilhyun smiled. “There are always those who would see the events of the past gone, whether it is watching for the unbonded or not. Since it is considered reprehensible to kill the children. But it did give us one thing - cover. Since “vampires” existed, real ones, true ones, could exist without living in hiding.”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “But the documentation on vampires, it would guarantee that you couldn’t bite and kill at will. Since bites are documented as bonding.”

“Creatures mutate, change. There are always those awkward examples.”

“And your women?”

“We find our kind no longer in danger,” Chilhyun said. “If your past was all you came to find out, then I have nothing more to tell you.”

“We wanted to find a way to break the bond,” Zhou Mi said, his words hitching painfully.

“You found a way. Probably the only way. But I doubt in other circumstances that you would find a vampire willing to bite for such a purpose.”

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Chilhyun granted entrance to two vampires. “The human, remove him.”

Zhou Mi was on his feet before the vampires could move, solidly in front of Kyuhyun who was still slumped against the wall. “No. We stay together. I won’t let you touch him.”

“His blood is no longer yours, so he is not your concern,” Chilhyun said.

“Like he could fight us,” one of the vampires joked, pushing Zhou Mi’s warding hand down, and pressing him back into the wall with a hand against his chest. And he whispered, “Quiet, or the human might get it by accident.”

It took a few moments for Zhou Mi’s brain to engage, staring at the man. “I know that voice. You helped to force me to drink from Kyuhyun to begin with!” His head snapped around to accuse Chilhyun. “Was it you? You forced me to bite him?!”

The man only smiled, sending fury spilling through Zhou Mi’s veins. “Do you think there is some vampire hierarchy? Some code of law?”

“But one of your people was there!”

“Not mine. Some band together for protection, but I am not their leader. I am the oldest, and they may choose to take my advice. Or not. You’ve heard our reasoning already, to keep the mistakes of the past from perpetuating. But don’t fret for the human. He is not to be someone’s meal.”

Helpless and sick, he watched, held to the wall as Kyuhyun was urged to his feet.

“Kyuhyun.”

What he saw in those eyes did not comfort him. Uncertain, and still a bit weak. Led out by the scruff of his neck like a recalcitrant puppy, until Zhou Mi was shoved to the floor, and left. And it sickened him as the door closed, that he had not fought harder. Could not have fought, with the implied danger to Kyuhyun’s safety. But even the door against his fists and feet did not give. Chilhyun had assured him that Kyuhyun would not be a _meal_ but he had no idea why they would want Kyuhyun alone. What information could Kyuhyun could give them that he couldn’t? Perhaps only that he was human, and his perspective was different, or—

It was another hour before a container of animal blood was left for Zhou Mi. And prepared to wage war, he was mollified by four words.

“The human is fine.”

But he was too ill with worry to eat.

***

Kyuhyun, to say the least of it, did not feel well. Led through the basement of whatever building they were in, he could only see Zhou Mi’s horrified eyes. As though he had been incapable of protecting Kyuhyun and to blame for everything. But he had seen how hard Zhou Mi had fought in that alley. Hitting with a power he feared would shatter the fragile-looking arms. But two vampires on one Zhou Mi was never going to be good odds. And Kyuhyun’s only fighting experience came by way of video games. The arm around his neck had been so debilitating, the most he could do was claw and kick and choke while watching Zhou Mi be flung into the wall. That Zhou Mi fought that hard for him. And still, here they were.

To say he wasn’t afraid for his life would have been a lie. Though, he thought wryly, if he were killed, at least Zhou Mi wouldn’t end up dying.

The bond. The bond he hadn’t wanted, manifested and broken without his consent. How ironic, that in Zhou Mi trying to help him, he had broken them. And in his haze, Zhou Mi’s horrified face to learn of it, loomed like a heavy blanket.

And as he sat, sullen in a chair of a room much like the one he had been in with Zhou Mi. Only he was with Chilhyun.

“Zhou Mi is safe?” he asked.

“He’s immortal,” Chilhyun said. “Short of shining the sun on him, we can do little to hurt him. I want you to tell me everything you know about the blood bond. Everything you experienced.”

“Are we your research subjects?”

“You were bound to a child of mine. Does it change anything? A line of vampires, even diluted. I am curious.”

For his own pride? He rolled his eyes. But he did speak, if reluctantly. The cold, the feeding. The registration. None of what he had experienced, the tingling warmth, or Zhou Mi laughing against him. Or touching him.

Chilhyun hummed. “You have been with him a long time. What he passed to you, what he needs from you, it is written in your marrow, your liver, your spleen. When the bite of the vampire that unbonded you is gone, all that will remain is mine, and his. Mine will fade. But your body will not forget him so easily. I’m curious if my bite, even if it’s stronger, bears the same mark. Every cell you produce sings for him. ”

With a broken bond? He remembered the singing in his veins too well. “How long until that goes away?”

“Seven years.”

“What?”

Chilhyun snorted. “It won’t be tomorrow or next week. Maybe not even within your puny lifetime. You are the ones who choose to tie yourselves together.”

“It wasn’t our _choice_. Kidnapping people, forcing them—”

“You may think me a monster, but even I can smell _regret_. Even without interference, the dhampyr have chosen to throw their lives away. He would have given his to keep you safe.”

Kyuhyun’s mouth thinned, standing to steady himself carefully against the wall. If he was going to bargain, he’d do it on level ground. “Then let us go.”

“To us humans are little more than cattle at times. Some fall in love, take an interest. A beloved pet. That son of mine is no vampire. Just a child who found a pretty toy to nibble on.” Chilhyun cupped Kyuhyun’s chin in his hand, and it took every shred of willpower not to jerk his head away. “I want no vampire thinking they can do the same. By invoking the bonds, the dhampyr die in peace. He will be better off to die with you.”

“Not anymore.” And he didn’t even know where the words were coming from. “Zhou Mi won’t look twice at me now, even if the bond can be done again.”

“That isn’t my concern. I will bleed you faster, but you are young. You’ll regenerate with his healing well before morning. And I will be sated. But I will not be so kind to your wishes.”

The vampire pushed back his head, pinning Kyuhyun to the wall. He would have shouted, screamed for help. But as the vampire’s teeth sank into his neck, his body went limp, useless. And he felt the pain of it. Slack jawed and useless as his blood was drained, mouth gaping and eyes nearly blind. _Pain._ It was nothing like the heady rush of Zhou Mi’s bite, the warmth, the feelings. No bond to perpetuate it, no gentleness originating in it. No voice telling him that it would be okay, eyes smiling at him.

When the feed was over, his knees buckled. And Chilhyun’s smile was nothing like Zhou Mi’s. A mockery, a satisfied one.

“Sleep, little pet. He may not wait forever.”

Weak as a child, he was laid on the bed, the blanket covering him. The chill in his bones was almost unbearable, though it faded after a few moments. Proof of the bond going away? Perhaps. If he could have spoken, urged his lips to move, there would have only been one name he said. It carried with him into his dreams.

***

Zhou Mi startled, as the door opened, and was frozen in horror as Chilhyun appeared.

Kyuhyun, carried. Not dead, and limp. But shaking uncontrollably.

“He rattled in his bed loud enough to wake anyone within a mile,” Chilhyun said, setting Kyuhyun down on legs that crumpled. Sinking to the floor.

Zhou Mi was afraid even to reach. What had they done to Kyuhyun, to get that kind of response? As though it was freezing cold, when the air itself was not.

“Why is he shaking like that?”

“Because he yearns for his mate.”

The denial was immediate. “No. You said—“

“I know. And the bond no longer exists— in you. In biting him myself, I erased the bite of the vampire before me. It seems my theory was correct. My bite is like enough to yours, that all his body senses now is you. His body had months to take you into his marrow. No vampire bite erases that. All you would smell, with your feeble senses, is yourself.”

“You fed on him?” Zhou Mi asked, the image of it too much for his brain to handle.

“Yes. And you come from me. If you bit him now, you could eat, but it would not bind him to you. What passed to him from me is stronger and won’t allow it. But that will break down, in time. Two weeks, if not a few days more.”

Kyuhyun would be horrified to know it. “We can’t stay together.”

“You’ll have to, unless you want him to break his head off shaking. Think of it as my last gift to you.”

“Last gift?”

Chilhyun leaned by the door, his shoulders even and relaxed. “There is too much attention here. We’ll move on. Go back to your city and live what remains of your life with your mate.”

The breath left Zhou Mi’s body. “He is not my mate.”

Chilhyun’s mouth twisted into a smile. “No vampire bite can change that.”

On his knees, he finally reached, and saw the fading red marks on Kyuhyun’s neck. It was one thing to see Kyuhyun bitten by another, torn from him with as little finesse as they had been bound, but to think he had been fed upon against his will as well, to the point he couldn’t even stand, shivering blankly on the floor?

“I fed, one last time,” Chilhyun said, almost goading. “His blood is good. It seems a pet who to your tastes can be useful. I’d be tempted to offer to let you leave him here, if he isn’t to your liking.”

“No,” Zhou Mi barked. “He has a life, and a family. He’ll return with me.”

“It’s your choice. We will leave you here when we leave this place. Do as you wish. But unbound, if time enough passes, you will be found again. Perhaps bound to a mate less your liking.”

Zhou Mi’s shoulders shook with anger, lips trembling for repressing it. “Don’t threaten me. I didn’t make this problem. It was your mistake that created me.”

“Which is why _he_ leaves alive.” Chilhyun opened the door and paused, looking back one last time. “We won’t see each other again. But the experience has been…enlightening.”

He gathered Kyuhyun tightly to him, breathing in the scent of his sweat and skin and hair as the door closed firmly. Smelling his fear. The warmth of him.

“Kyuhyun, are you okay? Answer me, please”

The breath that came out was warm, and unsure. But Kyuhyun’s voice was strong. “I wondered when you were going to get your ass over here.”

The trembles had stopped.

As though they were still bound.

Though they were not.

He cried into Kyuhyun’s collar, until his face burned with tears. Knowing Kyuhyun had fallen asleep, and glad for it. He had thought being bound to Kyuhyun had once been a mockery, but this was more so. That they could have a chance. Once Chilhyun’s bite was gone from Kyuhyun, the bond could be renewed. But what hope was there in that?

He breathed deep, trying to compose himself. His first concern could not be for himself, but for Kyuhyun. He slept with his hand on Kyuhyun’s wrist, feeling the steady thump of his heart, and dreaming of when he had been able to smell Kyuhyun. That Kyuhyun lived was enough for right then. It had to be enough.

***

Zhou Mi woke as Kyuhyun stirred, staring in confusion as Kyuhyun moaned and rotated his neck. He felt a little stiff himself, as he pulled up. The floor was neither soft, nor particularly warm. Though Kyuhyun at least felt warm against him.

“How do you feel?”

Kyuhyun covered his face with his hand, and groaned, as he sat up. Leaning heavily on one arm.

“Like someone ran a cement mixer over me. Did they say they were letting us go?”

“I think so.”

He wanted to reach out, cup Kyuhyun’s face. Tell him how sorry he was, how worried he’d been. But he thought of more productive things. Like getting out of there.

“You haven’t eaten since last night, I think. We need to find you food.”

“I’m fine. You haven’t eaten either.”

Zhou Mi’s eyes skidded away from the container of animal blood. He’d tried it, in the middle of the night. Cool and distasteful. But what little he’d had, had strengthened him a little.

“I’m fine.” And he tested the door, his spine tingling as the knob turned in his hand. At the soft click, his eyes flew to Kyuhyun’s, and he could see they shared the same thought. If the door was unlocked, were the vampires gone?

He left it for a moment, reaching down to help Kyuhyun up. And the points of contact between their skin, his hand on Kyuhyun’s arm, was almost painful. They stood carefully, and Kyuhyun took a step, making sure he was steady enough to do so. And with a nod, Zhou Mi let go. It was him through the door first, looking out into the outer room. Empty. Nothing but scattered garbage. He went slowly, cautiously, making sure Kyuhyun was close and that he wasn’t going too fast. He had no recollection of which direction they had been brought in from, only that there had been stairs. And leading up one corner of the room, he spotted them.

“Doing okay?”

“Let’s get out of here,” Kyuhyun said, face grim.

He almost wanted to run for it, but he also realized he had no idea what time it was. What day it was. They’d be able to tell if the sun shone, but he fingered the cloth around his neck just in case. And Kyuhyun couldn’t have run, anyway.

***

Zhou Mi thought at first he was hallucinating as they climbed the stairs. The sounds of sirens. It quickened both their steps, to see flashing lights on the street outside, Kyuhyun heavily supported beside him. It was not daylight outside at all, when they had emerged from the abandoned house. Police swarming them as though they were criminals themselves, before Eunhyuk appeared through the crowd. The missing researcher Daniel, unbeknownst to them, had been held there too. And he had made it to the street before them, using a neighbor’s home to call the police. Police who, with Eunhyuk in tow, had found the house and both of them. No other people were there. Just two abandoned humans, and Zhou Mi. And the police had taken them home, delivered them to Eunhyuk’s doorstep.

He had never before seen his friend cry.

But that night, he did. If only briefly. At Zhou Mi’s insistence, they called for delivery, for the two human men. Anything Zhou Mi could think of that would tempt Kyuhyun’s appetite. They had been gone for nearly a day, Daniel almost two. And he knew Kyuhyun had not eaten much. And while Daniel ate quickly, passing out on Eunhyuk’s couch, Kyuhyun was slower, more deliberate. It took all his willpower not to shove the food into Kyuhyun’s mouth, fixing long stares at the walls of Eunhyuk’s apartment. Pictures of people in various stages of a dance. It showed Eunhyuk’s job, his hobby. But it didn’t keep his attention from Kyuhyun for long.

“You need to eat it all.”

Kyuhyun glared at the meat Zhou Mi was trying to move onto his plate. “Are you going to chew it for me, too? I’m eating, take a break.”

“It’s your health,” Zhou Mi retorted.

“Sure. Whatever.”

The disgusted sound he made surprised even himself, and he stalked away to fiddle with the bag they had brought. Their clothes, mixed in together. He’d changed already, but Kyuhyun hadn’t. Eunhyuk dropped down beside him, getting a hand on his knee.

“I’d think you’d be trying to be sweet to him instead of pushing him away,” Eunhyuk said.

“This is what he wanted. He never wanted me. It was stupid to think he would’ve been happy, when it was never his choice.”

“But it can be his choice now. And yours?” Eunhyuk told him. “You showed up here, and I thought he’d be totally indifferent to you, but he wasn’t. And you were so into him. You would’ve been happy to keep him. You fell for him.”

“How do you not, when someone is right there, all the time? He is so—” Zhou Mi shook his head, almost gasping. “Of course— I didn’t try to. But he was my friend, too. Not just my roommate.”

“And your lover. I’m not stupid.”

“But that wasn’t for very long.”

“But you think after all that, that he’s just going to dance away without a care?”

Zhou Mi glanced over at Kyuhyun. “If I were him, I probably would.”

Eunhyuk’s face was still, and he saw there everything he was trying to deny inside. Reason. “Then you got involved with someone you don’t think cares about you at all.”

“We’ll leave on the first train,” Zhou Mi said softly. “I need to get him back. I can’t stay here like this.”

“I know. Give yourself a chance, Zhou Mi. No one else is going to for you.”

After Kyuhyun had eaten, showered, Zhou Mi hugged Eunhyuk goodbye. Leaving Eunhyuk and Daniel there, to catch a taxi to the train station. Taking the last train of the night, with Zhou Mi holding their clothes and Kyuhyun’s computer. There was nothing left for them in that town. The vampires, Chilhyun his grandfather, had moved on. He had found out everything he had never known, and so much he had never wanted to. And with the computer bag bumping between their feet, Kyuhyun drooled against the front of Zhou Mi’s shirt like a sleepy child most of the ride back into the city. At the very least, Kyuhyun was not afraid of him. And he allowed himself, for Kyuhyun’s sake, to stroke that soft hair. Back in their apartment, where things were familiar to them both, where they had come to know each other, they would see. They would see.

***


	10. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

Zhou Mi steadied Kyuhyun as they walked off of the train. The train station was so familiar, so welcome. Sights of home, scents of it. And Kyuhyun was docile, walking almost steadily beside him as the moved toward the outside. They had to catch a taxi, because the subway wasn’t running. Too late for that. He couldn’t stumble or fall, had no choice to. It would have sent them both pitching. But they both nearly fell asleep on the way to his building. Dragging a clearly exhausted Kyuhyun out of the taxi and up the apartment stairs.

The key slid into the lock without trouble, and he paused. The tumblers slid into place, the bolt sliding free.

Silent hinges gliding as he pushed through, hauling Kyuhyun with him.

Staring into the apartment as he turned on the light.

Kyuhyun’s shirt on the back of the chair.

Kyuhyun’s game consoles against the wall.

A picture Kyuhyun had tacked onto the board.

Kyuhyun’s bookcases.

Amidst all of Zhou Mi’s things.

It was their place.

And he could not help the sound he made to see it, feel it. He had expected to feel better in a familiar place, but he only realized how much he had lost. And after he stripped Kyuhyun of his pants and deposited him in bed with a glass of water, he cried in the shower. Wishing they had never gone. Wondering if Kyuhyun was glad.

Kyuhyun’s eyes were hollow with tiredness when Zhou Mi crawled into bed, and turned out the light. It hurt to even lay there, but he knew he had to. Kyuhyun’s body was too weak to endure the chills if he didn’t. But Kyuhyun’s breath was warm on his shoulder, and he hoped it was some comfort.

He was up before Kyuhyun the next morning, working. Popping in every so often to make sure Kyuhyun was all right, to bring him food or water. Kyuhyun seemed mostly to sleep, or browse his laptop, dragging himself out of bed only to use the bathroom.

“How are you feeling?” Zhou Mi asked, slipping into bed.

“I brushed my teeth and washed up tonight. I feel like I’m alive, anyway.”

“Good.” So very good. Just being able to wipe away some of that worry away. It didn’t matter what tied them together, he couldn’t just turn away the part of him who cared for Kyuhyun.

At the hand on his side, Zhou Mi moved closer, starting as Kyuhyun wound an arm over his neck.

“This is going to sound weird, so forget I said it in the morning,” Kyuhyun said. “But I missed this.”

Missed what? The question was almost on his lips, but Kyuhyun’s lips made it there first. An exhale that tasted of mint, a kiss that was warm, wet, lazy, and demanding all at once. Zhou Mi’s weakness, that mouth. Kyuhyun’s hips moving into his as Zhou Mi stroked eager, grasping fingers over Kyuhyun’s ass. Arousal lurched through him, careening out of his grasping tries at control. And he wasn’t alone, Kyuhyun’s hands wandering, pinching at Zhou Mi’s skin through his shirt. Able to do no harm, only add sensation, and he could only moan as Kyuhyun teased his chest, afraid Kyuhyun would stop. Afraid he wouldn’t. Abandoning Zhou Mi’s chest only to slide a hand under Zhou Mi’s underwear, to cup his eager body. Kyuhyun could not fail to turn him on, those hands, his collarbones. His moans, and wicked laugh when Zhou Mi nearly squeaked for him.

He couldn’t. He couldn’t—

He didn’t want to stop.

There was no untruth, he didn’t want, in any place of his brain, to stop. His defenses crumbling to Kyuhyun’s gentle fingers, kisses, sighs. Kyuhyun was possessed, not giving an inch, taking, their bodies rubbing together in the most intimate and lascivious ways. Drunk on Kyuhyun’s touch, the throbbing of his body, the fact that Kyuhyun was hard for him, moaning for him. His Kyuhyun, so full of need. Missing the connection between them, the want, the constant, nagging need. But his brain nearly halted when he realized that Kyuhyun was trying to pull him so that his body covered Kyuhyun’s.

Even then, he had some shred of sanity. He clung to it.

“You’re too weak for this,” he panted. Had he not just seen Kyuhyun weave slightly in his steps earlier?

“I dare you to say that again,” Kyuhyun pouted, but there was an edge of danger in his voice. “Besides. You’re the one who’s going to do most of the work.”

Kyuhyun’s face said even more than his words, a look in those shadowed eyes and soft mouth that he couldn’t even process. That and Kyuhyun’s widened knees, and invitation of the easiest to read kind.

“Don’t make me beg— Mm.”

His kiss cut off Kyuhyun’s words, slipping so deep into the taste of him that he thought he would never emerge. Shoulders arching as Kyuhyun tugged, pushed at him. Demanding, asking. He broke the kiss, trying to get his brain back long enough to speak.

“Do you have— Um. We need, do you have—“

“In the basket, by the bed,” Kyuhyun instructed him.

His hand was shaking as he rolled half off the bed to rummage for the bottle, and Kyuhyun was frantically trying to shove his own pajamas down.

All he could see was Kyuhyun, pale thighs widening to his touching. Stomach he kissed, and worshiped. Skin so soft, and it wouldn’t have mattered. Just to know it was Kyuhyun’s skin he touched, Kyuhyun who dragged him close with a hand in his shirt to kiss the breath from him. Kyuhyun who had seemed so weak, until he had all the control. He barely got his own pajamas down far enough, poised on his knees. Slick lube on his fingers, fingers along an erection that he could not help nor hinder when it was Kyuhyun mewling against his mouth, sucking on his lips, his tongue, his chin. All but killing him as Kyuhyun’s nails scraped up the skin of his back. Even through his shirt it sent chills through him. Had he been stroking himself right then, there would have been nothing to stop him from losing control. But still he probed with gentle fingers.

No patience for more, not for either of them. Kyuhyun’s hips lifted, demanding. However slick it was, it would do. And if it wasn’t, then they would try with more.

Even Kyuhyun’s breaths had a certain tone, that Zhou Mi had learned to read. He would have known pain. There was no pain in those pants, those moans, dragging at Zhou Mi’s shirt with his fingers as though to pull him into his body. So tight that it almost felt as though he could not go. But Kyuhyun groaned, nearly purred.

And they _fit_.

“Please, please.”

“Kyuhyun.” The words from his mouth, should he stop, go, was he hurting, did he like it, was he—

Kyuhyun’s erection was hot in his hand, and the strangled sound from Kyuhyun’s throat as Zhou Mi began to stroke him told him everything. Everything. His skin was so soft under Zhou Mi’s mouth, hands urging Zhou Mi on, holding his mouth to Kyuhyun’s neck as he sucked. HIs lips smarted as Kyuhyun kissed him, hips bucking into his.

A breath punctuated by a gasp.

Another.

Another.

And Kyuhyun came over his his hand, half strangling Zhou Mi as his body tightened and froze.

But Zhou Mi didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Racing his heartbeat to the pleasure that was right there, if he could just grasp it. Kyuhyun’s breath against his ear, his name from lips he had wanted too long to meet.

It was into Kyuhyun’s neck that he let the sounds pent up inside go free. He wasn’t sure if he rocked Kyuhyun, or if Kyuhyun rocked him, but it took so many moments for his body to settle. Kyuhyun so warm and bright beneath him.

“That was a big itch that got scratched,” Kyuhyun sighed against his face.

He wanted only to sink into that warmth, and stay.

And he felt Kyuhyun slowly relax, arms slipping from Zhou Mi’s shoulders. And after several minutes, his breathing evened.

He slipped from the bed, from Kyuhyun, intending to get something to clean them with, and was caught by the sight of Kyuhyun. And he knew he would not have been the only one, entranced by Kyuhyun passed out on his back, arms drawn up beside him. Shirt bunched up beneath his arms, red mouth, neck marked by Zhou Mi’s teeth. His human-looking teeth, not the ones he fed with. Wet belly, and cockeyed legs at rest. Pajamas and underwear still clinging to one ankle. He looked beyond debauched, sleeping so deeply. And perfect in a way that Zhou Mi could not have imagined. It was as though if Zhou Mi squinted, he could see the path his mouth had taken. Lip marks against skin, over Kyuhyun’s heart, his wrists, his cheeks. It was a different form of possession, but it had not been against Kyuhyun’s will.

He wheeled abruptly, returning with a warm washcloth, and at least making a pass over the mess they’d made. Kyuhyun muttered and curled on himself, likely getting cold. With a tug, the pajamas came free of Kyuhyun’s foot, and he was able to get the covers tossed over Kyuhyun’s body, before he slid in beside Kyuhyun. Keeping him warm, and hopefully comforted with his presence. He wondered how Kyuhyun had been when he slept alone. Those first few weeks with Kyuhyun near, Kyuhyun so careful to stay on his own “side” of the bed. Gradually creeping closer. Had it been the antibodies that made it that way, Kyuhyun seeking warmth, or had it been something else? Kyuhyun naturally craving touch, closeness.

But not his anymore.

Even as his body crooned with satisfaction, he felt sick with guilt and regret, staring at Kyuhyun’s slack face. His hand reached to touch almost on instinct, cupping Kyuhyun’s cheek, feather-light. Kyuhyun was perfectly right for him, but was he completely wrong for Kyuhyun? Their time together, every single week of it, had been a gift, even with the uncertainty Zhou Mi had felt. But had he thought of Kyuhyun as his? Taking his body, when no other part of Kyuhyun belonged to him. Mind, soul? What right did he have? The bond between them breaking didn’t lessen the want, or the need. And though Kyuhyun had begun it, had wanted him, too, he still felt as though he had reached too far. There wasn’t anything to rationalize that away for him, even when he closed his eyes he could see Kyuhyun’s face, sweaty and gorgeous, and moaning his name.

Kyuhyun would realize, once the antibodies were gone, that he was no longer tied to Zhou Mi. And then, he’d be free. Free to leave, get a new place. Take back his friends, his life. Unregister, lose any stigma, forget Zhou Mi existed.

He had to fight not to regret the sex entirely. Kyuhyun was weak, not mentally incapacitated. A moment of weakness and need, but his regrets went far deeper than that.

He watched over Kyuhyun, that night.

And he woke from half sleep to find Kyuhyun rigid beside him, curling cries escaping as he jerked and twitched.

Nightmare.

“Kyuhyun. Wake up, please. Kyuhyun.”

He shook the slim shoulders, and Kyuhyun came awake with a gasp, his eyes shining in the dimness.

“Zhou Mi,” Kyuhyun said. “They killed you.”

“No. I’m fine. Come here.”

Kyuhyun’s arm curled around him, solid and sure. Chest to chest, face to face. He petted Kyuhyun’s hair, holding him. Wishing for him, that his sleep would be calm. Still hearing Kyuhyun say his name. How strange that they could be so sure of each other, so full of trust, and be so broken. But he forced himself to smile, and slept all the better for Kyuhyun’s touch. Kyuhyun slept late in the day, eating a huge meal, before sleeping again. Zhou Mi provided him novels, his laptop, food, and left him to recover on his own.

Zhou Mi rose early to work, lingering only long enough to make sure Kyuhyun had everything he needed. And to each question Kyuhyun asked, he had little response. Monday morning, Kyuhyun was out the door to go to work, and Zhou Mi was left to his solitude.

He didn’t leave his sewing room until it was time to sleep.

***

Kyuhyun had never tried to figure out what to expect when he had gotten home with Zhou Mi, because he had been too busy feeling like shit to consider it. But the Zhou Mi who had sex with him, holding him, only to barely look at him? The one who made sure he was all right, and then _disappeared_ , wasn’t what he would’ve expected if he’d been able to rationalize it. It wasn’t like he knew what to say. Zhou Mi hadn’t fed from him since before they left. He noticed animal blood in their fridge. Occasionally at night, he rubbed his wrists. Not like he missed the bite itself, but watching Zhou Mi enjoy it, the feelings it gave him, was something he did. He had a vague thought that it must be what nursing mothers went through after weaning, and shrugged off that thought immediately. He’d been far from Zhou Mi’s mother. He wasn’t sure what the sex had been. Desperation. Trying to make sure that he still belonged there, that Zhou Mi still wanted him? All he’d know was that once his hands had been on Zhou Mi, he’d needed more, a clawing emptiness inside of him that had been so temporarily filled by Zhou Mi. Those kisses had been so desperate. But Zhou Mi’s need had burned him. _Kyuhyun._ He heard those moans in his head. Life and salvation and ecstasy.

Kyuhyun had felt less like death, enough to get up and go to work on Monday morning. Dragging himself home at the end of the day, and sleeping for almost 12 hours. So it took him a few days, really. To notice all the changes in their extremes. That Zhou Mi was sewing before he got up, sewing when he got home. Sewing all damn day, for all he could tell. Kyuhyun was suddenly getting his own breakfast, and packing his own lunch, and there wasn’t anyone there to talk to him while he ate dinner, or fight him for the TV. It was like he was living alone, except for the part that there was a guy who slept next to him.

He tried to tell Zhou Mi about his day - Tuesday. And Zhou Mi had listened very politely for a few moments and indicated that he was putting a zipper on something and needed to keep going. Very politely brushed off. Rejected.

It made sick panic twist in the back of his throat. Because it wasn’t in his nature to just be passive about things. Avoid them, sure. But he’d expected Zhou Mi to at least be present mentally, to work with him in the aftermath of something that could’ve gotten both of them killed. What if Zhou Mi had been the one looking forward to the bond breaking most of all? Or maybe Zhou Mi just felt guilty for Kyuhyun being hurt. He spent another two days being chipper when he got home, calling to Zhou Mi that he was eating, or watching TV. Trying to bait the lion, as it were. Every so often Zhou Mi would wander out for tea, and nothing Kyuhyun tried to say kept him from wandering right back into his work room and closing the door.

Locking it, even.

He stole Ryeowook away at lunch, Friday, hoping to get some grasp of the situation. His relationship radar was pretty stunted, but even he could tell when something was really wrong.

Ryeowook listened to Kyuhyun’s story, how they had gone to investigate about the vampires. How they had been taken a second time, and the bond broken almost by accident. He sheltered his neck with his hand, still feeling those bites. Ryeowook had seemed… Stunned didn’t quite explain it.

“So you’re saying that the kind of vampire that Zhou Mi is, is different than the kind that bit me?”

“Yes. He has to be. We know that for sure now.”

“Wow,” Ryeowook said softly. “That… That might make me less afraid of him.”

“You might not have to worry about being around him much longer. With me, anyway.”

Ryeowook regarded him curiously. “I thought you said the bond had broken, but that you could renew it. Are you going to?”

Kyuhyun’s fingertips just barely touched the heated edge of his tea cup. “I thought you’d be telling me to run away as fast as I can.”

Ryeowook frowned, fingers twisted tightly together. “I don’t know how long it’ll take me to be comfortable around him now that I know he is different than the one who bit me, but… Even before, I knew that he made you happy. None of the other guys you dated were like that. You’d get his texts at work and start smiling. Boasting about what he’d packed you for lunch. Even I could see that.”

“Maybe. But I don’t know if I made him happy.” When Ryeowook started to protest, he just shook his head. “No, he was so lonely that even a talking stick would’ve been attractive to him.”

“But you’re not a talking stick, Kyuhyun. People don’t just fall for other people because they’re _there_.”

“He treats me like I’m not there now, anyway. Like he’s just waiting for me to go.”

“It wasn’t a secret that you wanted to go for a long time, was it?” Ryeowook pointed out. “What if he’s just scared that you still do? It’s great you thought about staying when you didn’t have a choice. But the decision is yours now.”

“That makes it so much easier,” he groaned, letting his head drop.

“Have you asked him what he wants?”

“When? When he’s locking himself in his sewing room?”

“He has to sleep next to you, doesn’t he?”

Kyuhyun snorted. “I’m sure he’d appreciate me waking him up in the middle of the night to chit-chat about his feelings.”

“Kyuhyun.” Ryeowook’s voice was gently exasperated, as though Kyuhyun was missing something important that had to be obvious if it was being point out to him. “If he really cares for you, and he’s trying to push you away— Then he might care a lot more than you think. Because he’s putting your happiness first. So you have to figure out if you’re happier with him or without him.”

It felt like Kyuhyun’s whole throat and stomach seized up just hearing those words. “Just stab me in the face next time.”

“It’s not like you have to make a decision right now. I don’t think he’d grudge that from you? But I still think you have to let him know you’re thinking about it. Or maybe he’d think you don’t care at all, or at least not enough to keep sticking around.”

“And if he won’t even look at me?”

“Then you have to make him listen somehow, don’t you? The Kyuhyun I know doesn’t just give up. You have to figure out those strategy games, right? I know this is more important to you than those are.”

“More scary, you mean.”

Ryeowook just smiled at him. And he knew that Ryeowook wasn’t giving Zhou Mi a full endorsement as much as reacting to Kyuhyun’s complaints. Things didn’t change that fast. But it did, as he trudged back to his desk, make him appreciate just how good a friend Ryeowook was being, and had been. He stared at his blotter, and wondered how he hell he’d tell Zhou Mi anything, much less that he wanted to stick around even though he didn’t have to. He didn’t think they made flower bouquets for those kinds of situations. Twirling a pen between his fingers was supposed to help him think. But after a moment, he did get an idea. If he couldn’t tell Zhou Mi, then maybe he could show him.

***

Kyuhyun trying to speak to him was getting tiresome, Zhou Mi mused. Not because he didn’t want to hear that voice, but he was trying to shuttle Kyuhyun into a compartment that didn’t have expectations written in it. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun was trying to make things awkward, and Zhou Mi did all he could to try and help. He didn’t know what else he could do, really. Short of not being in the apartment until he needed to sleep. All traces of the bites were long gone, and Kyuhyun was eating well again. But it did his heart good to see Kyuhyun looking better.

The apartment was like a shrine to them. On that couch he’d fed from Kyuhyun, and talked, and known. Sat at that table and watched Kyuhyun eat, played with Kyuhyun, and hoped. In the bedroom, on the bed where they’d made love and dreamed, to the bathroom where they’d laughed, and the closet where Kyuhyun had comforted him. On the floor by where he worked, he could see Kyuhyun sitting across from him, winding lace, and smiling. He had those little moments, remembering their friendship. Sometimes they were good feelings. Many times they were sad. How long had It taken him to fall in love with Kyuhyun? He hoped it would not take as long to let it fade.

But it was almost tripping on Kyuhyun’s abandoned pajamas that made him a little hysterical. Kyuhyun’s clock, and some picture frame leaning against the dresser because Kyuhyun wouldn’t hang it up, and a sock half out of the drawer.

He couldn’t _live_ like that. Like living around a zombie, some specter of something that had been his, that could have been his, that he had lost.

He was furiously packing Kyuhyun’s books into boxes when the door opened, and Kyuhyun walked in after getting off of work.

“Hey?” he heard, after Kyuhyun had stepped out of his shoes and gotten closer.

Zhou Mi laid another book in the box, and got on his knees to get the lower shelves, keeping quiet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m packing your things. He said that the antibodies would be breaking down, so you will be able to move soon. I found several apartments for you in the ads, so you should look.”

The words were like acid, and he nearly shivered. And did for real, when Kyuhyun crouched beside him, blocking him from packing any more books with an arm.

“Stop. What if I don’t want to move?”

“Then you can stay here,” Zhou Mi told him, and tried not to analyze the tone in Kyuhyun’s voice. “And I’ll arrange to find a different place.”

“No, no. What if I don’t want to live alone?”

“Then you’ll need to find a roommate.”

Someone who wasn’t Zhou Mi.

But Kyuhyun’s face loomed, so close he could see _everything_ , and Zhou Mi’s heart all but exploded. Missing the kiss by mere millimeters as he twisted away.

“I can’t,” Zhou Mi said, trying to get up and only succeeding in flopping a few feet away. Kyuhyun was over him in seconds, like some kind of speedy cat.

“I don’t get why you think you have sex with me, and then try and kick me out the door,” Kyuhyun accused. “You want me. You want me around. You ignore me and treat me like I’m contagious. Pick one.”

“This isn’t easy for me.” And it felt like he was stating the most obvious thing on the planet. “Waiting for you to go.”

“And I just told you that I don’t know if— What if I wanted to stay here. With you. Your face, when Chilhyun told us— “

That was even worse, pity.

“Don’t think about this for me,” Zhou Mi pleaded. “I can live my life without you. If they are worried about me unbonded, then I’ll never leave this place.”

Kyuhyun laughed, the sound of it so soft. “You think I’d do it for you? You think I’m that self-sacrificing? Do you know me at all?”

Did he? He wasn’t even sure, as his eyes swept that face. The pursed mouth, and steadily considering eyes.

“Give me time,” Kyuhyun bargained. “I’ll show you I’m right.”

“Or will you convince yourself you’re not?” Zhou Mi wondered, and Kyuhyun thumped his shoulders almost painfully into the floor.

“I want to stay and figure this out with you. Unless… Unless you don’t want me. If you’re happy about getting rid of me, then—“ The sound of horror from his own throat made Kyuhyun’s face soften from the fierce mask it had become. “Then don’t keep fucking pushing me away, you idiot.”

He couldn’t even begin to think. He wanted to open his arms, an offering, to be pinned to the ground by a grown man emitting heat. In his mind, his arms were around Kyuhyun’s shoulders, and his face against Kyuhyun’s neck. And there were no words. To imagine feeling Kyuhyun sigh, and hum against him. But all he could do was guide Kyuhyun up from where they’d fallen. It was the fear that was more paralyzing to him than anything. The earnestness on Kyuhyun’s face. He wanted to believe so badly, that he almost could not bring himself to budge inside. And he had never known himself to be that way. Not before Kyuhyun.

***

Whatever Kyuhyun had expected coming home, it hadn’t been to see Zhou Mi packing away his books. Packing him away, in the most literal fashion. His stomach in knots as he tried to ask questions, figure out what Zhou Mi was doing. Zhou Mi who wouldn’t look at him would’ve been preferable to the man who’d been so determinedly packing away Kyuhyun’s things as though he couldn’t wait to get Kyuhyun out the door.

Had the thought crossed Kyuhyun’s mind that he could just take his stuff and go? Take back whatever life he’d had before, and forget about vampires, and whatever. Ryeowook’s questions had him thinking through it. And when he couldn’t figure out what he wanted, it had him scratching down notes on a piece of paper. Almost a pro-con sort of list. Was he happier with Zhou Mi? Did they make each other happy, was it something worth fighting for? He neglected his work to make that list, a fact for which he would make up for.

But as he eased off of Zhou Mi, he thought of that paper. A list, as it were, of why he had enjoyed being with Zhou Mi. Living with him. And after Zhou Mi had gotten himself back together, settling with all his defenses onto the couch, Kyuhyun handed him the paper that he had retrieved from his bag. If Zhou Mi didn’t believe his spoken words, maybe he’d believe the ones Kyuhyun had written.

And waited, as Zhou Mi read.

Zhou Mi stared at the paper, and his whole face was frozen in some expression between confused and laughing. And something else, because Kyuhyun knelt immediately to watch all the emotions going over Zhou Mi’s face.

_Living With Zhou Mi - Professional laundry service forever. Sprinkles sequins around like they were dust. Smells like a pot of face cream. Knows more about sewing than anyone probably has a right to, including ways in which to effectively curse out his sewing machine. Gets glitter on the TV remote. Doesn’t mind cleaning the toilet. Could put shirts on every man’s back in the city if they were skinny enough to fit in them. Needs to work on his oatmeal-making. Immortal guys probably shouldn’t be afraid of bugs (what are they going to do, flap on you?). Sexy butt, etc. Looks after me like I’m going to disappear. Sleeps like the dead._

“‘Doesn’t mind cleaning the toilet.’ Kyuhyun. I’m touched.” Zhou Mi was smiling at the piece of paper, and Kyuhyun wanted to shift in shame. “And these are the reasons you liked being here?”

“Not just here. With you. Turn the paper over.”

And Kyuhyun forced himself to breathe, as Zhou Mi did that, eyes widening, to continue reading.

_Willing to sleep beside me, even if he was used to sleeping alone. Learned to prepare food he couldn’t eat, because he wanted to for me. Took care and pride in my appearance like it mattered to him. Listened to me complain about work and tried to give advice. Probably needs a very long-lived pet - parrot or turtle? Worried about me if I didn’t tell him where I’d be. Didn’t want to share me with some other guy. Kisses like a champion. Possibly may hate him for his legs, but they’re nice to look at. Did his best to be interested in things I did, and what I wanted to do in my free time. Shared his TV with me. Wanted to be around me, even if it was hard. Kept me warm at night. Protected me like his life and my happiness depended on it. Made me feel wanted._

Kyuhyun’s eyes wandered up the wall, and across the floor, not daring to look directly at Zhou Mi while he read the more sappy part of the list. When he did spare a glance, his throat clutched, to see Zhou Mi’s fingers pressed against his mouth, and tears tracking down his cheeks.

Some awkward gurgle left him, wanting to jump up and start shredding the paper just to get it out of existence. And when Zhou Mi saw his movement, he all but clutched it to his chest in a moment of near-clairvoyance.

“Those are really nice things,” Zhou Mi croaked.

“Yeah, well. They’re just the truth.”

And there were more things, other things, that he could never put into words on paper. The way Zhou Mi’s presence comforted him. The way it _thrilled_ him. The ways Zhou Mi turned him on, and made him laugh, and how he wanted to go home, just to see what Zhou Mi had to say. What interesting things they could do, together. He didn’t have to worry about if he loved Zhou Mi, if he mattered, if it was real or not. It was something that really spoke for itself.

“They are really nice,” Zhou Mi reiterated, voice still thick. “But you still have to think about the circumstances. We didn’t have a choice. The antibodies you are used to are fading. We just went through a traumatic event. I appreciate this, but—”

“What if I’m in love with you?”

Zhou Mi’s body almost seemed to tilt, as though the words were too heavy for him to carry. The words had gone out of him like a shot, like desperation. But the words on that paper weren’t a mystery. Maybe he realized why he felt that way a little late in the game. But it carved clarity to realize that Zhou Mi would have done any thing to save Kyuhyun’s life. And to understand he felt the same. It was irony that he thought of protecting Zhou Mi, when staying with him would eventually end Zhou Mi’s life. But he had come to realize that there were many different types of salvation.

“There are many kinds of love,” Zhou Mi said carefully.

He was pretty sure that no other kind of love would have him showing Zhou Mi some kind of note like a love-sick idiot. Even after all of that, and Zhou Mi still didn’t truly believe him. And he had never had to explain himself before. He had thought the note was a good start. Saying the word “love” certainly was huge enough for him. But Zhou Mi still looked like he’d been kicked in the head.

“I’ve never felt like this about anyone else,” Kyuhyun told him. “You can call bullshit on me all you want, but that doesn’t make it less true.”

Zhou Mi’s white knuckles tightened. “That doesn’t mean we’re meant to stay together. You’re the only one I’ve had in a very long time, but that doesn’t mean you would be the only.”

Another of those feelings, those flashes. Zhou Mi with another man. A woman. Laughing together. Feeding from this person who had no idea who Zhou Mi was or what he needed. If Kyuhyun had to find someone else, who would he find that would cheat at Battleship? It wasn’t just being possessive. He tried to imagine himself with anyone else. Went back to Ryeowook’s words. Was he happier with Zhou Mi, or without him?

Signs had seemed to point to the first. Sure Zhou Mi wasn’t perfect, but he was the best, the brightest thing Kyuhyun had ever found. Kind of ironic for a man who was burned by the sun. But Kyuhyun wasn’t through yet.

“I told my parents about you, before we left,” Kyuhyun said.

Again, that flash of surprise in Zhou Mi’s eyes. “You never told me that.”

“I wanted to give them some time to think about it before I asked you to meet them. I was prepared, better than when I told my work. They were shocked I’d waited this long to tell them. Probably hurt.”

Which was his own fault. But he meant for it to prove something, to both of them. That it wasn’t just trauma or biology fueling the urges he had. His decisions had started even before they had gone. Zhou Mi reached, gripped his hand, tight. Painful.

“They’d call you crazy if you tried to tie yourself back to me.”

“Not everyone is the same,” Kyuhyun argued. “Even Ryeowook told me how stupid I was. He’s the person who knew me best, who saw me every day at work. He saw I was happier with you, even if he was scared of you. But he doesn’t know me best any more.”

_You do,_ was implied. But Zhou Mi wasn’t looking at him, but rather at their joined fingers. They fit hand in hand as they did in many other ways. Notched together as though they had been made to fit.

“My head is spinning,” Zhou Mi muttered. “Please, can I think?”

“Yeah, sure.” Though inside he was screaming against it. He wanted an answer right then, for Zhou Mi to answer his feelings right away. But he realized he was being selfish. “We were forced into this, and tricked out of it. I don’t want to rush this and make a mistake. I don’t want to regret that the rest of my life.”

Minutes passed in silence, their hands still holding on. Until his knees began to protest, and he stood, leaving Zhou Mi to his thoughts. But he rested his hand on Zhou Mi’s shoulder, just briefly, before he left. And hoped that Zhou Mi was comforted by it.

***

How hard it was, Zhou Mi mused, when a life was at stake. When happiness and the right decision weren’t clear. When he’d convinced himself of one thing, only to have Kyuhyun show up, and show him another way. Kyuhyun. _What if I’m in love with you?_ Kyuhyun could have had no idea how those words had shaken him. What if, not that Kyuhyun was. But that was only trying to argue. Because it was more than just implied.

He wanted too much, was the problem. And he’d frozen where he thought he couldn’t have it. Kyuhyun’s advances to the contrary did nothing to unfreeze him, it just sent him reeling. He wanted to unbend, to hope, to want it again. To think that Kyuhyun was being honest and needed him. That he wanted a chance to make a relationship between them work. And the thought of having _that_ talk with Kyuhyun frightened him far beyond any kind of talk they could have about their being kidnapped.

“Help,” he croaked into the phone, and had Eunhyuk sighing back at him. “What if I spend all this time, and open myself back up, and he decides he doesn’t want to stay?”

“Zhou Mi, seriously. Who ever has that kind of guarantee? You only have a few options. Either you trust that he’s being honest, bite him against his will, or send him away never knowing what might’ve happened.”

“I would _never_ —“ Zhou Mi sputtered, at the idea of biting Kyuhyun against his will.

“I know.” And Zhou Mi could almost hear the eye roll over the phone. “But seriously, does he even know why you’d want him to stay?”

He tried to think of it. Of course Kyuhyun had known that Zhou Mi had become more enthusiastic about their chances together than Kyuhyun initially had. But he’d never come out and told Kyuhyun _why_. And why he wanted Kyuhyun to stay was so huge and convoluted, that he didn’t even know how he’d put it into words. Much less so concisely as Kyuhyun had in his little lists.

And then he got a bright idea. He almost hung up on Eunhyuk in his excitement.

“ _Thank you,_ ” he said. “I’ll let you know!”

He jealously guarded his laptop like Kyuhyun was going to magically read the words he was writing in 6 pt gray-colored font. He put his heart into his words, knowing it might be the only chance he had to show Kyuhyun just exactly what he felt. Why he wanted Kyuhyun there. Why Kyuhyun was needed. Why he was loved, even if he could never tell Kyuhyun that. If nothing else, Kyuhyun deserved the truth from him. Even if it changed nothing between them, even if he couldn’t quite believe that Kyuhyun wanted to stay with him, to be with him, to love—

All his would be was an answer to the simple words that Kyuhyun had given him. He didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. Only that Kyuhyun had packed all of his books back into the bookcase, and the boxes were gone. He was giddy and full of dread. And he had never been more confused in his life.

***

Zhou Mi had lay beside Kyuhyun in bed that night, after he had given Zhou Mi his letter. They spoke of the next day, what they had planned. It was so politely normal that he wanted to scream. The flirting kisses, the touches. All of it, gone, in their indecision. That frightened him, more, that lingering in Zhou Mi’s indecision would light fire to the fear inside of him. That even if he knew that Zhou Mi had to be consumed by fear as well, he couldn’t keep himself from it. Of course Zhou Mi knew him best, living together so closely. But he also knew Zhou Mi. The nuances on that face. The hardening of it, to keep from revealing everything to Kyuhyun. But he saw things, anyway. Some of those things hurt. Some of those things made him want to hold Zhou Mi.

But it took almost exactly a day. Kyuhyun was startled to be backed onto the couch by Zhou Mi after he had eaten his dinner. Some nervousness in Zhou Mi’s speech as he pushed Kyuhyun down.

“Sit. Please. After you gave me that paper, why you liked being here— I thought I would do the same. So. This is mine,” Zhou Mi said, and handed him a file of dark blue.

“I wrote a list, not a novel,” Kyuhyun said, turning it in his hands.

“It’s not a novel. It’s only four pages.” Zhou Mi cleared his throat. “Just one for each month.”

Zhou Mi was right, that it was one for each month. What Zhou Mi had appreciated at the start. That Kyuhyun had been patient. Things Kyuhyun didn’t really remember that Zhou Mi seemed appreciative of. Going into month two, month three. How he had enjoyed the time they spent together, the little ways they’d come to know each other. Trading information on their research, talking about their days, playing together. There were little phrases scattered on those four pages. And each one of them had Kyuhyun’s breath catching.

_You were…_

_…my friend…_

_…my own…_

_…my comfort…_

_…my dream…_

_…my lover…_

_…my only…_

Everything inside him seemed to wind tighter with each word, each turned page.

_No one knows who they will meet, who will walk beside them. Each person is a mystery. I asked myself a hundred times if I would have wanted you, if we had met on the street. Would our eyes have met, would we have known? It isn’t fantasy, so I don’t know. But I do know this: if it had been someone else, I wouldn’t have needed them as much. Each person is different, and you get along, or you don’t. I’m not perfect, and neither are you. But there were ways we fit, that would have been impossible for someone else. Just watching you think, or concentrate on your computer. Watching you shake with laughter, and a joke spread over your face even before you said it. You have a kind heart, and it was more than I could have imagined or dreamed, that you would be my friend. I have enjoyed being your friend. Working with you, sleeping next to you. You touched places in my head, and heart, and soul, that I wondered if I would ever find. Even when you were angry with me, I knew you thought of me with respect. I told you I could live without you, and I can. But there was a day when I breathed in and could smell you. And that day, and all the days after it, made me glad to walk beside you. It has been an honor to do that, and a joy. No matter what happens, I’ll always remember that. And be grateful for the time we had. Though I wish it had come with less pain for you._

“Why do you still sound like you’re lumping me out the door?” Kyuhyun mused.

“It’s the truth, too,” Zhou Mi said. “And I don’t want to put any guilt on you.”

“Sure, because ‘and I was so happy with you, but please think fondly of me while I pine over you all alone forever’ isn’t going to make me feel bad at all.”

“I didn’t say that! Maybe I’ll get a parrot after all. Name him Kyuhyun and have him say things like “ _But I wanted to watch something else_ ” at me.”

He snorted and stood, setting Zhou Mi’s prepared paper carefully aside.

“Is a parrot going to do this for you?” he asked, flopping onto the couch beside Zhou Mi. “Or this?”

Zhou Mi did not avoid the kiss, even leaning into him for a moment. It broke, softly, and there was a soft smile on Zhou Mi’s face.

“No, I guess not.”

“How did they choose?” Kyuhyun asked. “We read so many books, but none of them said that. How did they know it was the right choice, to bind their lives to someone else’s? How did they pick the person they wanted to be with until they died, and know they weren’t making a mistake?”

Zhou Mi’s eyes lowered. “I don’t know. I wish I did. I wish I had things I could tell you, that would show the right way.”

“I don’t care about the right way, as much. I just want to know if you believe me, if you’re in this with me or not. We had a talk like this before, about whether or not we’d ever find a way out. And I thought we agreed to try.”

Zhou Mi’s breath hissed from him. “It’s different.”

“Yeah, it is. Because we’re not trying to see if we deal until we could break the bond, we’re trying to decide if we want stick together in case we want to make it permanent.”

“You know, I was the one who tried to comfort you when this began,” Zhou Mi said, leaning into Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “You are being that for me, right now.”

He chuckled, to think of it. Yes, Zhou Mi the one who had talked Kyuhyun down from the ledge. Who researched what was probably uncomfortable for him. It was strange how life twisted back around. It wasn’t like he was sure, positive. Like he had some kind of insight into the future, that being in love was some kind of magic script. It wasn’t like he was begging Zhou Mi to bite him right away. He just wanted a chance to make a decision without racing after Zhou Mi in terror. He thought that Zhou Mi had to want that as well.

“I figure we both have to be kind of supportive, or we’re going to scramble our brains trying to figure it out.”

And his breath left him as Zhou Mi turned, arms sliding around Kyuhyun’s shoulders and forming as much of their bodies together as was possible. How solid Zhou Mi’s ribs were beneath his arms, the curve of his neck and shoulder beneath his face. He’d missed that. Just simply, missed that.

“I do believe you,” Zhou Mi said, his voice soft, and yet sure. Finally answering Kyuhyun’s question about believing if Kyuhyun was being honest. “Let’s work on this together.”

Kyuhyun smiled. And got a leg up on Zhou Mi’s lap. They probably look like they were fused together, but who cared. All he knew was that both of Zhou Mi’s arms were holding him, and he had his cheek against Zhou Mi’s neck. Spreading his fingers against the ridges of Zhou Mi’s back, and stroking. And to his credit, he only fell asleep once, and Zhou Mi felt it, laughing into his shoulder. His retaliation had been a kiss to Zhou Mi’s neck, ever so softly returned. It made him shiver. And it calmed him inside. Even if it was a little painful getting up after having his body all twisted, they’d needed that. Just a mostly silent commune. Where just touching had all the subtext they needed.

***

Zhou Mi let his spine relax into the mattress, listening to Kyuhyun brush his teeth. It had been an interesting evening. If he could put it that way. He hadn’t known how Kyuhyun would take his letter, but that time on the couch, and Kyuhyun’s honest words? He didn’t feel quite as shattered. At least he could get all the weird pieces and confusion inside working in the same direction. And ironically, it felt better to know that Kyuhyun wasn’t trying to push it. There wasn’t some kind of ultimatum, _bite me again in a week or else._ If it happened again, if Kyuhyun offered his life to share it with Zhou Mi, it would be because it was right. And he had Kyuhyun with him until then. His friend, a man he respected and trusted. A man who looked ridiculously cute and hot at the same time in his pajamas.

Kyuhyun turned the lights off, crawling into bed and rolling closer to Zhou Mi’s side of the bed.

“Sheets are cold. Mm,” Kyuhyun murmured, edging closer. “You’re warm.”

“Do you think some night we should try sleeping apart, seeing if you don’t get cold like you did?” Zhou Mi asked, and held his breath.

Kyuhyun chuckled. “I think I’d be cold for a different reason. You’re like a human-sized space heater.”

“Human-sized, or Kyuhyun-sized?” Zhou Mi teased.

“I’m glad you’re not exactly Kyuhyun-sized,” Kyuhyun said, a yawn splitting his words. “Wouldn’t have those legs otherwise.”

His legs. Zhou Mi tangled his fingers in the necklace he wore, to keep from reaching to touch Kyuhyun. There was trusting, and there was trying too hard. Being close was its own reward sometimes.

But sleep was no kinder to him.

_”This boy is useless now,” the vampire said. Kyuhyun’s blood taste was in his mouth, and he watched the blood spill from Kyuhyun’s body. The vampire became Chilhyun, his grandfather. Drinking from Kyuhyun. Emptying him. Killing him. And no matter how Zhou Mi twisted, turned, screamed, he couldn’t get free. Forced to watching Chilhyun. Killing what was his, what wasn’t his, what he’d lost. Holding Kyuhyun’s body, the tiny room closing around them, waiting to die. Kyuhyun, Kyuhyun—_

Kyuhyun had just barely woken by the time Zhou Mi jerked out of the dream. It made him wonder what sounds he’d made, what movements.

“Zhou Mi?” Kyuhyun asked softly.

And without invitation, he buried his face on Kyuhyun’s chest.

Just the sound of Kyuhyun’s heart beating was comforting to him. Though he could not smell it, just to know Kyuhyun’s blood moved, no matter what. He meant to move almost immediately, wondering at Kyuhyun’s reaction. But the hand that landed on his head held him.

“Nightmares suck,” Kyuhyun said, perceiving what was going on.

He laughed, helpless, into Kyuhyun’s chest. “Yes. Yes, they do.”

His hand trailed against the edge of Kyuhyun’s ribs, and he sighed, only to breathe deep. Calming himself. Or trying to.

“You want to talk about it?”

“I—“ He thought of turning Kyuhyun down, of bottling it up inside of him. They could not go on that way, if they meant to stay together. “I dreamed about the day we met. No. About your face when they cut you. And that they killed you there, before we ever had a chance. That I was stuck there forever with your body.”

And he couldn’t force any more out of his mouth.

“Sounds like a crappy dream. You afraid you’re going to get stuck with me?”

“No,” Zhou Mi said. He pictured Kyuhyun’s angry face, that first night, trying to leave after being bitten. “I was so sure you would hate me.”

Both times, really. But he didn’t feel he had to say that, as Kyuhyun ran gentle fingers through his hair.

“Did you ever think of hating me?” Kyuhyun asked.

“I could never have blamed you. You were so much more than I ever thought.” And his heart hurt to think of it. All those fears and uncertainties. Except Kyuhyun meant more to Zhou Mi than he thought possible. “You meant it when you said you— You were…in love?”

Kyuhyun’s hand paused in its stroking, before beginning again. “Yeah. I did. Ah… Are you?”

Zhou Mi pushed himself up, staring at Kyuhyun. So many shadows. So many things he couldn’t see. But he could feel, and he edged closer, pressing a kiss to Kyuhyun’s collar bone. And Kyuhyun leaned into the fingers that touched his face.

“How could I not love you?” Zhou Mi asked. “Kyuhyun.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s mandatory if we’re going to stick together,” Kyuhyun said, a cockeyed grin showing even in the dark. “Are you scared?”

“More than you know.”

“Me too.” And Kyuhyun sighed, scooting down a little so that they were face to face. “But we can’t let the fear control us. I mean, I’d sit sometimes and think, what if I found out I was dying, and you were stuck with me? Or whatever, but that’s not something we’re in charge of. Even if it’s not fair that there’s no escape hatch for you.”

“There is no escape for you, either,” Zhou Mi told him. “ And I have had my whole life dreaming of the love worth giving up everything for.”

“Does that make you stupid, or just sappy beyond imagination?”

“It just means I’m in love.”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun breathed. “Yeah, exactly.”

The kiss Kyuhyun pressed against him was feather light. His arm wound beneath Kyuhyun’s head, supporting it. Inevitable as gravity, those kisses. Feeling Kyuhyun sigh, and press against him. A conversation in the press of lips, and soft exhales, and smiles felt, not seen. A conversation that drew them both into the warmth of sleep.

***


	11. Chapter Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research points to a vampire bite being unbreakable, but Kyuhyun can't give up. And with Zhou Mi, he works to undo the blood bond that forced them together.

***

Kyuhyun woke the next morning with a leg hooked over Zhou Mi’s thigh. He flopped closer, groaning at the light spilling through the room. Zhou Mi slapped the back of his head like he was swatting at a particularly troublesome fly, which did nothing to help him go back to sleep. When he poked Zhou Mi’s side, all he got for it was a groan and a man trying to squash him into the mattress.

“I don’t know if this is a surprise to you or not, but smothering me isn’t going to make me go back to sleep,” he informed Zhou Mi. Though if Zhou Mi kept stroking his side like that, he wasn’t making any promises.

He was pretty sure that Zhou Mi was saying something, though all he was hearing was mumbles from the direction of his neck.

“I don’t know about you,” he said, and grunted as he rolled Zhou Mi onto his back. “But I’m hungry. And I can’t eat you.”

Zhou Mi blinked up at him. And blinked again. “Probably wouldn’t give you the full allotment of vitamins and minerals.”

He smirked, glad that Zhou Mi had gotten his jest. “Probably not. Breakfast? And then…?”

And then anything. Anything they wanted. He could help Zhou Mi pin things, if Zhou Mi would even show him how, or they could drag out a video game, or watch a movie. Anything. Maybe even go out and watch a movie. The idea had some merit.

Zhou Mi’s eyes all but crossed as Kyuhyun bent down, kissing him smartly. “Rise and shine.”

He danced out of bed, nearly catching himself on the rug. A little too ungainly for a smooth escape. But there was a decidedly happy tilt to Zhou Mi’s mouth when he glanced just before he shut the bathroom door.

When he made it to the kitchen, Zhou Mi had set out a bowl for him. Old habits, he figured, pouring his own cereal and leaning against the counter to eat it while Zhou Mi brewed tea.

“You have anything you need to get done today?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Not really.” Zhou Mi blew thoughtfully at his teacup. “I got a lot accomplished this week, so I’m really almost ahead.”

“Then let’s go out,” Kyuhyun said, almost pouncing. “How long has it been since you’ve been to a movie in an actual theater?”

“Uh. A long time. Really long.”

“And since it’s inside, you can watch the movie without the cloth over your head. Even if you can’t eat, it’s still fun. If you want.”

“Yes. I’d like that,” Zhou Mi said, smile bursting free. “Though there aren’t going to be any movies playing for at least a couple of hours.”

“Let’s walk around. You aren’t afraid to go out, and you know this neighborhood, so you can show me things I don’t know. I’m not ashamed to go out with you.”

It hadn’t been meant as a challenge or even as a declaration, but it had sort of seemed that way anyway.

He watched that throat work as Zhou Mi downed the last of his tea. “Then I guess we need to get dressed.”

***

Kyuhyun had heard some of the stories before. How long Zhou Mi had lived there, where he had moved from. They’d went out shopping or to get food for Kyuhyun more than a few times, so there had been the usual conversations. Zhou Mi didn’t really go out for pleasure, except perhaps to buy music, or a book, but it was still fun to visit and revisit those places with Zhou Mi beside him.

And when they had exhausted that neighborhood, they got on the subway and went to where Kyuhyun had grown up. His parents had since moved, but it was still nice to see the places he knew. A playground, familiar stores. Restaurants he’d liked to visit. And it was there that they decided on the movie they were to see, at the theater Kyuhyun had frequented as a teenager. He bought the tickets, letting Zhou Mi hang back. Bought himself a snack and a drink, and though Zhou Mi got a few strange looks, there was no hostility.

They were settled before the previews of a thriller that had been in the TV commercials for a couple of weeks. And he wiggled in his seat experimentally, taking a draw off of his soda. And Zhou Mi was able to take off his gloves, pushing back the cloth over his head. Smiling at Kyuhyun when he saw he was being watched. And skin to skin, Kyuhyun folded their hands together, content to have sweaty his sweaty palm against Zhou Mi’s for as long as they both could take it. For a second he almost laughed, realizing that Zhou Mi had essentially brought along his own snack, had they been bound. But that feeding, that had been for them alone.

What he hadn’t expected was for the movie to trigger memories. A woman being kidnapped, screaming. It made his heart leap in his chest, suddenly twice as invested in the story line as he had been. It didn’t make it him want to run, which he supposed was a comfort. And when he looked to Zhou Mi, Zhou Mi’s mouth was hanging open, eyes frantic, clearly as absorbed as he was.

The woman had been fine, in the end. Sobbing out her experience in the arms of her boyfriend. And the uplifting triumphal music heralded the credits as the bad guys went down.

Life as it was ideally, he supposed. He got his garbage together, waiting as Zhou Mi prepared himself again for outside.

“Was it as good being in a theater as you remember?” he asked, as they walked out in the afternoon light.

“It was. The movie was fun, and it was nice to see it with you. Of course the screen doesn’t hurt either.”

“Exactly.”

“It made me think, though, about when we were taken,” Zhou Mi said, touching his elbow and stopping him in the middle of the sidewalk.

It made Kyuhyun regret a little, if it had brought up bad memories for Zhou Mi. They had talked little about what had happened, but he had been too weak at first, and then too focused on Zhou Mi. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

“Why are you sorry?” Zhou Mi asked, turning to him more fully. “I was the one who couldn’t protect you.”

“That’s not how I remember it.” And it wasn’t. The desperation on Zhou Mi’s face, the fear. The sounds he had made, like a wounded animal. All because he was worried for Kyuhyun, fighting for Kyuhyun. “I know they threatened my safety if you fought, so what did you think you were going to do? Unless you know how to teleport and didn’t say so.”

Zhou Mi laughed helplessly, stepping closer as people approached them. “No, but I wish I had been able to.”

Kyuhyun straightened the collar of Zhou Mi’s jacket, and held on. Looking up when he’d sorted out what he wanted to say. If he could’ve poured his earnestness out, he would have tried. “I wish a lot of stuff. But that doesn’t mean you should be a martyr for things that weren’t your fault. The fact that you exist isn’t why that stuffed happened.”

“But to see you hurt.” Zhou Mi’s eyes closed tightly as though he could block it out. “I saw that bite… That haunts me. Everything Chilhyun did to you when you were away. I couldn’t stop it.”

Kyuhyun deliberately had to stop himself from touching his neck, knowing Zhou Mi would see and wonder. But he took Zhou Mi’s arm and guided them to keep walking, so they didn’t appear out of the ordinary, still speaking quick and close to each other. “Their bites didn’t hurt me as much as really weirded me out. I got a lot of sensations from your bite that I never got from theirs. It felt like my whole body froze, like I couldn’t move even if I thought about it.”

“Maybe that’s one of the differences between what we transfer to you,” Zhou Mi mused. “And why vampires like me can bond. Because their bite isn’t voluntary like mine usually would be, so they have to paralyze their prey.”

“Then they’re probably missing out. Chilhyun seemed to think we belonged together.”

Zhou Mi’s snort was unamused. “He would have said anything if it meant knowing that I would end up dying with you.”

“I think it’s probably more than that.” But he didn’t really know what else to say. “I was scared. But I knew you were there.”

“Just the thought of him biting you…”

Zhou Mi looked more like a scared, lost little boy at that moment than at any time since they had met. He knew how deeply Zhou Mi’s want of protecting Kyuhyun ran. That streak of jealous and possessiveness. But Kyuhyun had a confession, one he had been reasoning out in his head ever since the sick feelings had subsided over it. Nearly to the entrance to the subway, he pulled Zhou Mi to the side, a little window ledge offering a break from sidewalk traffic.

“I’m glad he did bite me, since it meant I had to stay close to you. But I hated it, too, because that should’ve been for you. But it’s over, and we’ll never see them again.”

Zhou Mi tugged him close, folding him into a hug. He was guilty of wiggling into it, but Zhou Mi patted at him. And because he had never done so, he kissed Zhou Mi’s mouth through the soft cloth covering Zhou Mi’s face.

Zhou Mi’s mouth curved into a smile that was kind of of heartbreaking. “I’m sorry.”

The kiss was slower, that time. Feeling the warmth of Zhou Mi’s lips, and lingering. Something telling in that touch. “Just don’t blame yourself or I’ll be angry at you forever.”

The touch was soft against his neck, Zhou Mi nuzzling at him. “I could never want that.”

He regretted that Zhou Mi pulled away, but took Zhou Mi’s hand again. He wanted that connection. And he thought back to the letter Zhou Mi had wrote for him, that had been so full of emotion, but held back by so many walls. They would find their own way, he mused. They’d had to find it to begin with. His elbow knocked against Zhou Mi’s, peering conspiratorially up at him.

“Whose night is it to pick what we watch on TV?”

“Yours,” Zhou Mi allowed. “Want to play Battleship when we get back?”

And there was a long pause. “Are you going to cheat again?”

“Kyuhyun!”

He had a Zhou Mi laughing beside him, and a feeling that they were at least getting closer to understanding what they wanted. Even if it was just a little bit at a time.

***

Zhou Mi was woke from a half doze, from where he’d been bobbing against Kyuhyun’s head for the past half hour. The TV turning off had startled him, and Kyuhyun was setting the remote aside. No matter what Kyuhyun said about Zhou Mi being warm, Kyuhyun was warmer than any blanket against his side. They had curled there mostly without conversation, with teacups and a snack for Kyuhyun, to watch Kyuhyun’s show. And it wasn’t that the show had been dull, or even that he had been particularly tired, but their day had been fully charged. And having Kyuhyun against him, after playing games, helping Kyuhyun to cook his dinner, was too comforting to describe. And it was still early. Early enough that they could find something else to do with their time.

“Shower time,” Kyuhyun said, tugging Zhou Mi up off of the couch.

He unfolded himself with a groan, and swatted at Kyuhyun when the inevitable “grandpa” joke came out. Kyuhyun kept Zhou Mi’s hand in his as he rummaged for clean pajamas and underwear, leading him into the bathroom. His curiosity was definitely at its peak, but he didn’t know how to ask what Kyuhyun was thinking. At least not in a way that didn’t have him fumbling.

His eyes were lazy as he watched Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun’s shirt went into the hamper, his hair delightfully mussed as he turned back to Zhou Mi.

“I’ve never done this with someone,” Kyuhyun said. “Come on, strip.”

This? Showering together? Or? His mind was so helpful in providing things.

Kyuhyun used the opposite foot to get his socks off, and it made Zhou Mi smile to see the familiar habit. He tossed aside his own shirt. But he had to start paying closer attention to his own clothes, when he saw Kyuhyun’s pants start to fall down his thighs. He shoved down his own, and by the time he looked up, Kyuhyun had disappeared into the shower. Or at least disappeared as much as the wavy glass allowed. He took a fortifying breath, before stepping over the raised ledge. Kyuhyun’s head was down, wet under the spray, but he looked up when Zhou Mi slid the door closed. Or mostly looked up anyway, because his eyes did a very thorough assessment up Zhou Mi’s body.

“Sure, this’ll stay innocent,” Kyuhyun muttered nearly under his breath. “Get wet.”

He got the whole of one shoulder under the spray before Kyuhyun had edged behind him, dousing Zhou Mi’s head. He sputtered, water streaming down his face. He was still half blind when he heard Kyuhyun squeezing out shampoo, and then had hands running through his hair.

“It’s this some kind of cleansing experience?” he asked, still trying to get the water out of his eyes.

“Whatever you want it to be,” Kyuhyun’s blurry face informed him.

He went for a kiss, and got part of Kyuhyun’s chin. Kyuhyun chuckled, kissing him on his actual mouth.

“Hold still or you’ll have shampoo in your eyes, too.”

Though the scalp massage might’ve been worth it. By the time Kyuhyun helped to rinse his hair of the conditioner, he was ready to purr. And very ready to do the same for Kyuhyun. Silky and dark between his fingers, Kyuhyun’s eyes closed in pleasure. Watching rivulets of water run down Kyuhyun’s face and neck as the soap was washed from his hair. He wanted to lick them from Kyuhyun’s skin, and did, once he knew there was no shampoo or conditioner mixed with it.

“Just making sure you’re clean,” he said, when Kyuhyun eyed him.

“I bet. Since you’re concerned, how about this.” Kyuhyun’s dark wash cloth, pressed into his hands. “Get my back?”

His laugh was partially a choke, because he had a wet, naked back and butt and thighs right there, and no Kyuhyun watching to see where Zhou Mi’s eyes were going. He started thinking of very dirty garbage cans, and people sending him dirty looks to stay in control as he lathered the cloth. And Kyuhyun arched under the touch, the texture of the cloth scratching along skin and ridges of bone. And the scars. Steadying himself with Kyuhyun’s hips, he bent, pressing a soft kiss to the most obvious patch of skin that had been injured. That Kyuhyun let him made his heart tremble. And instead of handing back the cloth, he wrapped himself around Kyuhyun instead. The spray ineffectually splattering between them, warm while the rest of their skin was cold. Kyuhyun leaned back into him, covering Zhou Mi’s arms with his own and sighing.

He wasn’t sure how long they would have stayed that way, him mouthing formless words against Kyuhyun’s neck, if the shower hadn’t sputtered loudly at them, protesting their inattention. With an evil grin, Kyuhyun had grabbed Zhou Mi’s duck-decorated cloth. And with swipes and strokes, his back was scrubbed as well, until his skin was glowing as much as his face was. But unlike Kyuhyun’s prediction, it did stay innocent. Mostly. It wasn’t like they were barred from looking, or touching. Or kissing. But they both knew they weren’t there to do much more than that. Even so, it was nice to towel off, slipping into warm pajamas, and curling with Kyuhyun on the couch as Kyuhyun ate a late snack. It was strange, because he did feel cleansed. Maybe not in the way Kyuhyun had anticipated, but clean all the same. He wished the shower would’ve taken all the rest of his insecurity with it, but he didn’t think anything could, besides working at it himself.

Well, that, and looking up to see Kyuhyun smiling at him with sauce dribbling down his chin. That accomplished a lot.

***

Kyuhyun watched as Zhou Mi wiggled his toes in his socks, and knew Zhou Mi smelled exactly like he did. The body wash that smelled like oranges and flowers and whatever else. It was citrusy and nice, that was all he knew, and it probably smelled like that behind Zhou Mi’s ear and between his knuckles and under his collar bone. But he wasn’t going to grab Zhou Mi and find out. Especially since the thought of doing so made him almost miss his mouth with his snack entirely.

“What?” Kyuhyun asked, and Zhou Mi seemed to realize he’d just said Kyuhyun’s name out loud.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. It’s nice like this.”

Kyuhyun could hardly not agree. Considering he’d just been naked with the man in the shower and now was stuffing his face as Zhou Mi rubbed his legs. If he could be any more pleased with himself, he’d have been purring. All those times seeing Zhou Mi in various states of undress. Hell, they’d had sex and there were still parts of Zhou Mi’s body that were unfamiliar to him. But if he’d had any lingering doubt that he was attracted, and maybe wanted to spend hours teasing lines of kisses up Zhou Mi’s legs and body, then that was gone entirely.

“I don’t want to go to work tomorrow,” he said suddenly, feeling kind of stupid because he could imagine just flopping in bed and staying there all day dozing and making out.

“Probably should save your sick days for the actual sickness,” Zhou Mi said, smiling and poking at his toes. “Besides, we can do something when you get off work.”

“If you say so.” He grunted, leaning forward. It was nice, no TV, no music going. Just the hum of the fridge and then the touching. Not like the touching could be discounted. He figured they could get up to no good if they were left to themselves. The kind of no good he figured was perfect. “Help.”

Zhou Mi took his hands, and did as Kyuhyun had demanded, pulling at him until he could arrange himself on his knees beside Zhou Mi.

“So here’s a question,” Kyuhyun said, anticipating Zhou Mi’s reaction. “What’s your favorite sexual position?”

Oh, and he got it, as Zhou Mi looked up at him, all wide eyes. “What?”

“You heard me.”

Zhou Mi seemed completely unsure, staring at him, before the words came out of his mouth. “I don’t actually know? I didn’t really have sex in a bed before, so… The only time was with you.”

He got to feel a little smug about that. Okay, more than a little smug. Though, it wasn’t like he could answer the same, because he’d definitely had sex on a bed before, but he figured they could edge around that without too much trouble.

“But you probably have fantasies,” Kyuhyun mused. “Positions you’d like to try. Pinned down and ridden, or—“

He laughed as Zhou Mi made a kitten-sounding noise as Kyuhyun’s hand slid down his chest. He kissed Zhou Mi’s neck and did what he’d meant to do all along, getting one knee on the other side of Zhou Mi’s hip. Certainly those fantasies had put him in Zhou Mi’s lap at least once.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” Zhou Mi asked, smiling at him from beneath eyelashes.

“Who’s trying?” Kyuhyun asked, nudging his hips against Zhou Mi’s.

It took a little shifting to get their pajamas open. Probably longer than it should’ve taken since Kyuhyun had a hard time figuring out how to work drawstrings and elastic, moving out of the way, getting Zhou Mi’s hips to accommodate, and still keeping his tongue in Zhou Mi’s mouth. And Zhou Mi was no help at _all_ considering he seemed to be trying to drive Kyuhyun to distraction with his hands and mouth alone. It just meant that they were very, very urgent once they finally were able to line themselves up. Skin to skin.

Zhou Mi’s shirt took the heaviest casualties, as they tumbled one after the other. The urgent throb of pleasure a drumbeat, as Kyuhyun folded himself closer.

Kyuhyun sighed against Zhou Mi’s neck. “Do you think jerking each other off was how we anticipated ending tonight?”

“I always anticipate it,” Zhou Mi joked, patting his butt.

His knees creaked as he stood, walking behind Zhou Mi and led by his hand. They tumbled into bed in disarray. One of Zhou Mi’s legs clutched between his, and a man breathing deep and even against his neck. He’d left some important things off of that list, he thought. Just little things like that.

***

If Kyuhyun had been waiting for that moment, that “ah, I think this time is perfect to join my life to Zhou Mi’s” then he would have been quite disappointed. _Today is a perfect day to get bitten._ And it wasn’t like he didn’t think about it, because he did. It was simply comfortable to slip into their routines. Maybe there wasn’t any feeding, but there were other things. Like Zhou Mi greeting him with kisses, and Zhou Mi pinning him to the bed, and other things like that. He had argued that there was no need to rush it, and they did not. Letting the physical reminders fade, far earlier than the mental ones did. He wasn’t sure who had more nightmares about it. Pain, fear, loss. Zhou Mi had almost seemed to not want to talk about it at first, as though he was protecting Kyuhyun somehow.

But it eased, with time. Discussing more of what had happened in that basement, not to relive it, but to expunge it. To carry some of the weight of it for each other. They were alive, and together. And to cap those discussions, they proved it to each other. There was no better stress relief than laying against Zhou Mi’s chest with a hand taking solid, comforting swipes up and down his back. Like Kyuhyun was some kind of gigantic house cat. He’d joked that Zhou Mi needed to get a parrot, but maybe Zhou Mi had found a longer-lived pet after all.

And though the nightmares became less frequent, the occasional nagging worry didn’t. And it wasn’t as though he expected to go home from work to find an empty house. Or to find that Zhou Mi had discovered a man he liked better. Not really. But he understood the idea of wanting someone so much that placing a hold on them felt necessary. That needing Zhou Mi as much as he had slowly realized he did, meant that the blood bond looked less like a prison, and more like a fortress. And Zhou Mi had been the one thinking that Kyuhyun would change his mind? It wasn’t that. Once a week, it seemed, Ryeowook would check up on the status of their relationship. Though Ryeowook usually kept his pep talks to saying he was glad things were going well, and a smile.

And things were going well. Even as they kept a cautious eye out for the activities of the vampires who had kidnapped them, they got on with their lives. They weren’t glued at the hip every hour. They watched their TV shows and movies together, talking over Kyuhyun’s dinner or a game. While Kyuhyun played on his computer, Zhou Mi entertained himself with books or hand stitching something to be sold. And there was the sex, which was hard to discount. When Zhou Mi sucked him off for the first time, the last thing he’d been worried about were Zhou Mi’s teeth. Too busy feeling like he was dying in the most pleasurable way possible. And nearly passing out against Zhou Mi’s stomach when he’d returned the favor. Zhou Mi was in so many ways, and it was so stupid, and such a cliche, perfect. And trying to measure himself against those standards did nothing, because soon enough he had a beanpole of a man nuzzling up against him and murmuring _I love you_. And the answering glow that spread through him erased all his doubts. Until the next time, at least.

Kyuhyun made a big goal at work? Zhou Mi made him dinner. Zhou Mi sold a big project? They had very enthusiastic celebratory sex. It was a day that ended in “day”? They flopped on each other like tired puppies. Or showered together. Or made out during a slow scene. Or insulted each other quite magnanimously on the status of their weekly chores. Because Zhou Mi still did clean the toilet. There hadn’t been any changing that. And it didn’t matter that summer had started to fade into fall, and that his life was wound up in Zhou Mi more than ever. He didn’t care that his parents had been worried for his sanity. Even they had agreed to meet Zhou Mi eventually. But he didn’t know who could have resisted those earnest, if slightly unsure, smiles.

Certainly no one who’d contributed to his gene pool, that was for sure.

***

With a groan, Kyuhyun collapsed into bed, pulling the covers half over his head in order to pretend he could just stay there forever. Considering he’d finally made it to the weekend, and Zhou Mi was already shirtless and reading one pillow over, the thought wasn’t unappealing.

“I think I want to go get Chinese tomorrow, if you’re up for that?” he asked, fingers nudging at Zhou Mi’s hip under the blanket. “Lunch or dinner, I don’t care. We could walk. Get some exercise. Different kind of exercise.”

Zhou Mi set his book aside, scooting down and turning to Kyuhyun. He wasn’t sure what to make of that expression, but he didn’t have to wait long for what Zhou Mi was thinking.

“Maybe you should go alone sometimes,” Zhou Mi suggested.

“Why?”

One of Zhou Mi’s shoulders lifted in a half-shrug. “We’re starting to get weird looks there. I don’t know if it’s because people see us together a lot, or we give off weird vibes. I don’t know.”

It felt like Kyuhyun’s brain was twisting trying to decipher Zhou Mi’s hidden messages. “I don’t really care about weird looks.”

“They just aren’t very kind.”

“You’re the one who used to tell me that I needed to get used to it and not take it to heart. What’s going on with you?”

“I just don’t…I don’t want you to— I don’t know,” Zhou Mi said, half laughing as his words wouldn’t come. “I’d spare you from that.”

“The important part of you is here, not your teeth.” He tapped Zhou Mi’s temple. “That’s what makes you the guy I’m spending the rest of my life with.”

It took a second for the words to sink it, and it was Zhou Mi’s choking sound that spurred him out of his stunned silence.

“Wow, that sounds intense out loud,” Kyuhyun said.

Not like he didn’t know, after all, that it was what they’d been working toward. But it was something else to say it to Zhou Mi’s face. People who got married, they had a clause in there about forever, too. But they could break the deal without one of them starving to death. But he could say it out loud, and lay beside Zhou Mi at night and say “ _I love you,_ ” and not be weirded out. Would Zhou Mi still cheat at Battleship when he was sixty?

But Zhou Mi’s mouth was trembling as Kyuhyun considered the weight of his own words, and he poked two fingers into Zhou Mi’s stomach in retaliation.  
“Stop laughing at me.”

“I’m not. I swear I’m not, Kyuhyun.”

“So yeah, those people? If they can’t accept us, then we can move to a part of town that does, because you shouldn’t have to worry about that. I just don’t want to go around like I’m single again. Like I’m keeping you in a closet because I’m ashamed. Because I’m not.”

Zhou Mi and his awkward arms pulled Kyuhyun close, rocking their heads together.

“I love you so much,” Zhou Mi said softly against his ear.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, patting and rubbing at Zhou Mi’s back. And had to deal with the fact that he’d brought on the touchy-feely stuff himself. “You know, there are days I think I’m ready, and then I think it’s weird to bring it up, like it should happen naturally or something. But…”

“But?” Zhou Mi asked, pushing back so he could all but devour Kyuhyun’s face with his eyes.

“But it’s not going to happen naturally. Because I have to say okay, and so do you. So. Yeah.”

“Are there days you think you’re not ready?” Zhou Mi asked.

“Not really? I don’t think I dwell on it a lot. But it’s kind of a nice thought. You and me. No more wondering about it.” And he snickered as the joke rolled through him. “Then you can have your cake, er… _boyfriend_ , and eat him, too.”

It was fascinating to watch Zhou Mi melt down. The widened eyes, before that face crumpled into heaving laughter, clutching at Kyuhyun’s clothes to support himself as though he was going to roll right out of bed.

“I didn’t think it was that funny,” Kyuhyun protested, but still secretly pleased and grinning along with the gulping Zhou Mi. Zhou Mi, who was currently waving a hand at his face to dry the near-tears of laughter.

“Have my _boyfriend_ and… Haha. _Eat him_ …Kyuhyun!”

“Yeah, yeah.” And his face kind of hurt from the smiling. But he had a question, whether he knew it or not. Whether he was ready or not. But the fact that he could think to ask it, he thought said a lot more to how prepared he was than anything else.

“Are you ready?” he asked, and touched Zhou Mi’s chin. Tracing that angled jaw, to one of the cheekbones he had come to know so well.

And he knew really beyond a doubt what the answer would be.

***

Kyuhyun close against him in bed was nothing new. They seemed to excel at it, the kind of close touching and talking he craved. Sometimes Kyuhyun fell asleep in the middle of a conversation like that, or sometimes they just sort of murmured until saying goodnight. Or saying goodnight in a totally different, very pleasing way. The light from the bedside lamp illuminated Kyuhyun’s face enough that he saw the shyness there, when Kyuhyun asked him. Was Zhou Mi ready? He had been sure for weeks. Months even. It was hard to put a price on the weight of his need, once he’d struggled past the first edge of fear. He didn’t think it was possible to get rid of it fully, but having Kyuhyun press kisses at him before work, and lounge against him after did a lot. Trusting Kyuhyun. Trusting Kyuhyun’s love. And waiting, for it to be right for both of them.

Because he wanted more than a few months of Kyuhyun’s breath tickling the hairs of his neck, and lazy kisses in bed. Learning to cook more of Kyuhyun’s favorite dishes in a way that both did not kill Kyuhyun, but also impressed him. Or at least the way Kyuhyun moaned and complained about the weight he put on because of the ones he’d learned so far said so. Of course that weight, to Zhou Mi’s mind, went all the most interesting places. Kyuhyun’s infinitely squeezable butt, and the thighs that did their best to squeeze Zhou Mi’s hips to smithereens. As they gasped against each other’s mouths, and laughed, and moaned. Watching Kyuhyun’s eyes blur, mouth parted, with ecstasy, and breathing out his name. The precious declarations of love.

“I am very ready,” he told Kyuhyun, and tried not to qualify it. But Kyuhyun just rolled his eyes at him, in a way Zhou Mi knew was affectionately meant.

“Then bite me, you idiot. Why did we wait this long?”

Zhou Mi’s eyes fell to Kyuhyun’s lips. “We had to be sure. Do you—“

His words were cut off by Kyuhyun’s mouth, a punishing, deceptively sweet kiss. “I love you. I’m sure.”

He landed on Kyuhyun with a grunt as they rolled, Kyuhyun’s dark eyes staring back at him.

“Last chance,” Zhou Mi warned him.

“Yeah, yeah. Last chance for you, you mean. Just get— Ow. I think I bruised my lip kissing you.”

That thought nearly had Zhou Mi grinning. “Can we be more cliche, starting it with a kiss?”

Kyuhyun shrugged, his hand tightening in Zhou Mi’s hair. “I hear that’s how they end marriage ceremonies these days.”

Zhou Mi laughed softly. “Then from this day on,” he promised.

“Till death do us part, and all that.”

And with full intent, watching for any hesitation, Zhou Mi lowered his head, his lips light against Kyuhyun’s. He sucked Kyuhyun’s lower lip into his mouth, and it took little more than a knick with his teeth to take the taste of Kyuhyun’s blood into him. Sweet and pure, better than the best of his memories. He was able to fully appreciate it, enjoy it, that taste. No fear or pain to interrupt them. He shuddered, his bones aching for a moment, as Kyuhyun’s blood flooded through him. But it wasn’t enough. Not enough. He pulled back with a gasp.

“Do you trust me?”

Kyuhyun, dazed with even the tiny bite, goggled. “Enough for a lifetime?”

They were half naked anyway, and it took little more than pulling down their clothes, and slickening himself. Kyuhyun’s body was tight, but welcoming, the long ease of knowing each other’s bodies. Kyuhyun moaned, body lifting for Zhou Mi’s hand and body, his neck arching. It was no accidental movement. It was invitation. Kyuhyun’s hands pulling his face there, to Kyuhyun’s neck. He could smell himself in that blood already, from just one, tiny bite. And he wanted to smell more of himself there, and more and more, until Kyuhyun smelled only like his own. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, where to place his teeth. To take in the rich tang of Kyuhyun’s blood, he could have glutted him at the taste. The taste, the heat of it, was so familiar to him. Even if it had been weeks upon weeks, he knew it like he knew himself. The ache screamed in him, and he felt Kyuhyun choke. Not from the bite. From the orgasm. And he spilled into Kyuhyun when he knew, pulling back from Kyuhyun’s neck in a daze. The wounds that he left no longer trickling blood, and Kyuhyun exhaling in slow, hard puffs.

“That wasn’t as bad as you made it out to be,” Kyuhyun joked weakly.

And the glow inside him wasn’t the warmth of Kyuhyun’s blood, or the pleasure Kyuhyun’s body had brought him. Kyuhyun wrapped to him, kissing his face, his lips. Still and calm beside each other.

“Better than before?” Kyuhyun asked.

Zhou Mi hummed, running his hand up the warm silk of Kyuhyun’s back. “You tell me. I’m not the one who came without being touched.” But that mouth was smug, and Zhou Mi kissed it from him. “I am yours, by choice and need. What could be better?”

“I have to put up with that sap the rest of my life?” There was a pause, as Kyuhyun wriggled closer. “Probably only you can make me like it.”

They shoved each other back and forth a little, laughing. And he assured Kyuhyun in so many ways, how much better it was. Even when Kyuhyun slept deeply because of of Zhou Mi’s antibodies at work, waking to be sick, and then crabby against Zhou Mi’s chest. It was the last time that Kyuhyun would ever have to go through that. His body perfectly attuned to Zhou Mi’s antibodies, working even as they lay together, and more every time he fed from Kyuhyun again. Kyuhyun could survive without him, but not him without Kyuhyun. And for some reason, that comforted him.

But not more that Kyuhyun himself did.

***

Zhou Mi’s gift to Kyuhyun for their bond, so Zhou Mi said, was a new suit for work. And though Kyuhyun argued that was like giving him a kitchen knife or a washing machine, Zhou Mi just waved him off. Though he was pretty sure the idea wasn’t so much waiting for the bonding, as it was having the leverage to make Kyuhyun stand still long enough for all the fittings. Because when Zhou Mi had said he was giving Kyuhyun a new suit, he’d meant that he was making one.

Out of cloth. With his own hands. Okay, and the sewing machine, too.

Of course he’d leaned a lot about clothes construction in his time with Zhou Mi, but he was still under some kind of impression that clothes came out of machines fully formed, with no human interaction.

Still, Zhou Mi had him stepping into a pair of half-finished pants, the subtle plaid pattered on gray one that he found himself actually liking. And Zhou Mi was clucking around him on his knees, with a pincushion strapped to one wrist, and a couple of pins between his teeth. He tried to not think about how close those pins might be to sensitive areas.

“Are you trying to make me so hot that no one can resist me?” Kyuhyun mused.

Zhou Mi pulled out the pins, smiling up at him rather beguilingly. “Just make sure you tell them where you got it when they ask how they can get one.”

And Zhou Mi yelped as Kyuhyun’s knuckles bounced off the top of his head. “I’m not some kind of walking Zhou Mi advertisement.”

“Just feel lucky I’m not bedazzling “Property of Zhou Mi” across your butt,” Zhou Mi retorted, waddling on his knees to get to said butt.

“Perhaps we should get it tattooed there instead.”

And he could see in the full length mirror that Zhou Mi’s face went just the slightest bit dark at the idea of someone seeing Kyuhyun’s butt long enough to tattoo anything on it. And then a small look of triumph bloomed, a huge smile on Zhou Mi’s face.

“Maybe I’ll learn to tattoo next,” Zhou Mi offered. “The sewing thing might get old.”

He blinked. “But I’d be your only customer.”

Two seconds, and Zhou Mi’s smug mouth, had him laughing and trying not to get jabbed with pins. Zhou Mi had meant it that way precisely. But he could think of a few less painful ways that they could demonstrate that they belonged together. He may or may not have seen a ring he liked on the way home from work. And imagining sliding it on one of Zhou Mi’s fingers made the fitting go that much quicker.

Even if Zhou Mi had poked him - with a finger - when he had gotten carried away imagining what he’d do to Zhou Mi after. It was hard to get an accurate fit with someone sporting an erection, Zhou Mi had complained. Though Kyuhyun just offered to let him feed extra long for his trouble, which probably wasn’t much of a surprise, considering the way Kyuhyun was giggling. Vampire or no vampire, Zhou Mi did well to be cautious. And if Zhou Mi seemed wary at the smug look on Kyuhyun’s face, well… He’d be glad to introduce Zhou Mi to another of life’s little surprises.

It wasn’t like they had some kind of guaranteed happily ever after. But not too many people got to start a relationship over twice, either. Zhou Mi had said once that until he’d met Kyuhyun, he hadn’t been able to smell blood. _”Until you,”_ Zhou Mi had said. He didn’t think they could’ve imagined that day, just how many _until you_ ’s would end up being true. Love, sex, need. They’d touched all of those. And he hummed in appreciation at the half-naked Zhou Mi stretched out on the sewing room floor next to him. A soft measuring tape was still around Zhou Mi’s neck like some kind of striped scarf. Of course that had nothing on his backside, which he assumed bore the imprint of the carpet they were laying on. Clearly too much to ask for the mattress to follow them around the house for impromptu make-out sessions. Though he’d been stripped of the pants before that had gotten going, because he wasn’t sure if Zhou Mi would’ve forgiven him if they’d gotten the suit pants dirty before they were finished.

His fingers walking tracks across Zhou Mi’s impossible stomach got the rise from Zhou Mi’s consciousness that he’d been expecting. And two hands pulling him to his feet.

Zhou Mi stared down his body, a t-shirt, and nothing else, and cleared his throat. “That’s a good look on you.”

Given he’d just stepped over Zhou Mi’s underwear, and that Zhou Mi’s shirt was slowly inching back down his torso, he was inclined to say the same.

And when he whispered, _love you_ , into Zhou Mi’s shoulder under the shower’s spray, that was only another thing they agreed on.

***

It was with a little bit of pride that Zhou Mi knew the idea had wholly been Kyuhyun’s. The dinner, anyway. It had come after the infinitely frightening point at which they’d informed Kyuhyun’s parents. Okay, Kyuhyun had done the informing, and he’d stood and tried not to seem imposing. Even if Kyuhyun had stood on his foot on the way home for slouching. Kyuhyun’s next idea had been much preferable.

“Why don’t we get together with Ryeowook and have a celebratory dinner? He’s dating someone now, so we could all go together. I feel like we should do _something_.”

Besides being at each other, mouth and body all hours of the day, Zhou Mi assumed. He wasn’t sure if it was the high of feeding again, or the thrill and newness of it, but they had been in danger of wearing each other out once Kyuhyun’s body adjusted to the renewed influx of Zhou Mi’s antibodies. There was a certain giddy thrill to it, knowing they’d made their choice and then had the luxury of knowing they were each other’s.

He didn’t think Kyuhyun would’ve begrudged him the tiny panic after waking up that first morning, wondering if Kyuhyun regretted. But Kyuhyun had fixed him with a pleading dark-eyed pout and asked for tea and soup in bed. And a kiss. Milking his post-bond sickness for all it was worth, clearly. They nearly hadn’t moved from bed that day. Not so much having sex, as bonding in other ways. Napping curled together, watching the bedroom TV, looking up the news on the computer. And Kyuhyun had invited him again, baring his long, pale neck. And Zhou Mi didn’t know what human, vampire or otherwise, could have resisted.

But the idea of celebrating, after they’d gotten their own celebrating in, was a sweet one. Even, especially, with Kyuhyun’s closest friend. There was no wedding, no reception. But it was still confirmation, and a mark to the start of their lives together.

He met Kyuhyun at work, dressed ever so carefully for their double date. Kyuhyun had chosen a restaurant totally enclosed, so that Zhou Mi could sit in comfort without being covered and having to wait for sundown. More for Zhou Mi’s sake than Kyuhyun’s, but the thought was appreciated. He liked the thought of being able to touch Kyuhyun’s skin unhindered by his protecting gloves. And he had never met Ryeowook’s boyfriend, so he didn’t want to seem too “weird” right at the start.

Kyuhyun had arranged the table ahead of time, and they arrived first, settling with tea.

“At least we don’t have to get you a menu,” Kyuhyun joked. “On your menu tonight is Kyuhyun with a side of Kyuhyun, with Kyuhyun sauce.”

“Sounds like my kind of meal,” he said, and with his head finally uncovered, he got the greeting kiss he’d been waiting for.

But they didn’t have to wait long, Kyuhyun nudging Zhou Mi as the door opened, revealing Ryeowook and his date. They both stood, greeting the other men.

Ryeowook smiled, introducing everyone. “This is Yesung. Yesung, Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about you both from Ryeowook,” Yesung said, and looked to Zhou Mi. “Congratulations.”

Zhou Mi knew how to do nothing but extend his hand after Yesung extended his, a brief, firm, and greeting handshake. It wasn’t as though he had never shaken someone’s hand, but more that he hadn’t been expecting it that night. And it was both a shock and a gift. On a celebration night, there was something important about that.

As Yesung greeted Kyuhyun, Ryeowook made a soft noise, to get Zhou Mi’s attention, and Ryeowook looked at him nearly without reserve.

“Congratulations.”

Ryeowook’s hand extended, and Zhou Mi froze. So used to holding himself back, being so careful not to touch when they met with Ryeowook. And Yesung’s hand was on Ryeowook’s shoulder, supporting him.

He did not squeeze Ryeowook’s hand, just held it, gentle, for a moment between both of his. And he smiled softly, knowing what it cost Ryeowook to offer that touch.

“Thank you.”

Seated, the others ordered their food, discussing careers and work. How Ryeowook had met Yesung, how Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi had met. And it wasn’t exactly dinnertime conversation fare, so Zhou Mi had murmured nothing more revealing than, “It was circumstances beyond our control, but here we are.”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun agreed. “He enjoys shipping me out the door every morning.”

And they had a small elbow battle to compliment that statement.

“He knows if he gets bored with work, I can always teach him to sew,” Zhou Mi said, and Ryeowook laughed long enough for him to get a sharp kick under the table from Kyuhyun.

“Hey, I can sew on a button,” Kyuhyun argued, to which Zhou Mi had only one rebuttal.

“If I hand you a threaded needle.”

“From the man who makes me get flies out of the apartment.”

But Kyuhyun held his hand during dessert, and he relaxed in the easy company and conversation. Their fingers were still laced on the subway, and walking home. Kyuhyun had already had his celebratory dinner, and it was finally time for Zhou Mi to have _his._

***


End file.
